Jack Reed: “I also want to thank you for your intense interest in all these issues and for your accessibility and collaboration with…”

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.

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

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.

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.