Trump Broke It, He Owns It and Here’s Why Congress Must Stop It

This letter to the editor, by John Gostovich, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on January 8, 2026.

Please call your elected representatives in Washington and demand that they exercise their constitutional duty to oppose and defund the war Trump has started in Venezuela.

Call Tom Tiffany: (202) 225-3365 Call Ron Johnson: (202) 224-5323 Call Tami Baldwin: (202) 224-5653

The president’s aggression is illegal, unconstitutional and reckless.

It also gives permission to Russian President Vladimir Putin to crush Ukraine and to Chinese President Xi Jinping to grab Taiwan.

President Trump’s cabinet has been ordered to “run” Venezuela and starve it of revenue from its oil reserves if it does not comply with Trump’s demands. He has also threatened Cuba, Colombia, Brazil and Panama. He wants to absorb Canada, Greenland and — to a lesser extent — Mexico.

Trump’s threats to Venezuela’s oil revenue echo the threats already made to American universities, law firms, and uncooperative politicians, cities, and states.

It’s the organized crime approach to getting whatever you want—as the president said about Venezuela’s vice president: “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”

America is well on its way to becoming a nation where raw power and lawlessness are tolerated by many and celebrated by a few. Try explaining this to your kids, to Ukrainians, to neighbors being snatched. We must make our voices heard from our neighborhoods to Washington to end Trump’s nightmare.