Jack Reed: “Are you using that aggressively to counter what is usually kind of informal and sometimes even nonverbal sort of conduct…”

President Trump has been explicit about his desire to extract Venezuela's oil," Reed said in a statement.

President Trump’s effort to turn the U.S. military into an investor in Venezuelan oil is a blatant abuse of power and taxpayer dollars.

His administration removed Nicolás Maduro from power, threw its weight behind the unelected leadership that replaced Maduro, and is now attempting to use U.S. military assets and taxpayer-backed financing to boost a private oil venture.

When President Trump cuts military exercises to flatter a dictator or punishes South Korea for declining to join a war he started, all of our allies – and adversaries – think that America’s commitments are negotiable.