Virginia senator on Greenland, Iran and Venezuela
(CBS, KYMA) - Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Greenland.
According to Brennan, President Donald Trump has said he's putting tariffs on our closest European allies, like the U.K. France and Denmark, until they agree to hand over Greenland.
This prompted her to ask Sen. Warner if there will be checks and balances from Congress when it comes to President Trump's use of tariffs in that way, and the senator said:
"I would hope so. We thought when the president took on the independence of the Federal Reserve, Congress might stand up. We thought when the president sent 20% of our fleet down off the coast of Venezuela, Congress might stand up...We got a vote on the War Powers Act. Then the administration rolled back the Republican votes. Now the question is, when the president is taking on, potentially a new tariff war with our NATO partners, with threatening Greenland. Will my Republican friends beyond saying quietly to me, 'Mark, this is crazy?' Will they say that publicly and stand up against the president that has brought chaos to the international order? And got to tell you, is not making Americans safer when you threaten, for example, the security of NATO, the most successful alliance in modern history. The only country that is, frankly, benefiting the most from this chaos are both Russia and China."
During the interview, Brennan and Warner talked about the future of Iran, with the president saying "it's time to look for new leadership in Iran that doesn't kill people by the thousands in order to keep it under control."
Brennan also reported David Barnea, the head of the Mossad, was in Miami to meet with Steve Witkoff.
This led Brennan to ask Warner if he knew what the focus of the meeting was, and if the U.S. is working with Israel on a plan for what happens in Iran, and Warner said:
"I can't talk about anything specific, but what is in the public domain is that Israel, as well as all of our allies in that region, were concerned about a strike in terms of Iranian reprisals, and the fact that we don't have all of our forces there, because part of our forces are off the coast of Venezuela, make us less of a threat. And there is a real question, 'What would you bomb?' And is there a chance that that kind of kinetic action might make more support for the regime a rally around the flag. That doesn't mean that we couldn't be doing more cyber it doesn't mean...and I say, I've got a lot of concerns with Elon Musk, but his Starlink operations are brilliant. We should be able to get more Starlink into Iran so the Iranian people can get reconnected to the internet and our ability, for example, in a normal course, we would be rallying all of our NATO allies to also put pressure, because they have relations with Iran. But most of our NATO allies are concerned about Americans' potential military action in Greenland and the threat of additional tariffs. So the ability for America to bring a concerted worldwide confrontation to this awful Iranian regime, and the Iranian people are extraordinarily brave to stand up. We need to do more, but some of our options are limited because of the chaotic approach that the president is taking around the whole world."
Brennan and Warner then talked about Venezuela, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe meeting with interim Venezuela President Delcy Rodriguez as it was intended to improve the relationship between the two countries, according to a U.S. official.
When asked if he was comfortable with the Trump Administration's plan, and what Director Ratcliffe had explained to him "is the intention to basically coerce them into compliance," the senator said:
"Let's look the what the American military did in Venezuela was extraordinary. Nobody else could do that, and the president's goal, which he's made clear, was mostly about oil, not about the Venezuelan people. It will take years for the Venezuelan oil fields to get up back operating to anything close to efficiency. Maduro was awful on that, but our ability to strangle off and keep the choke hold on the Venezuelan regime keeps that fleet blockading Venezuela. Are we going to keep that fleet, 20% of our fleet, off the coast of Venezuela for the next three years?"
Brennan followed up by asking Warner if he asked the administration that, and Warner said:
"We have asked, and we have not gotten a response on how long the fleet will be there. And one thing that I would also point out, and let me be clear, the Biden Administration screwed up in 2024 when the Venezuelan people voted overwhelmingly to throw out Maduro, and we didn't push him out. But to suddenly say the to the leader Machado, who was leader of the Venezuelan opposition, who got the Nobel Prize...I mean, does President Trump not realize he looks kind of silly taking that prize from her as she tries to basically suck up to him? And the fact is, what she has said, and again publicly, is that, yes, you got rid of Maduro but the same people who tortured and imprisoned the Venezuelan opposition are still in control of the regime. Where does that lead the Venezuelan people? And where does that lead us to a better relationship, frankly, a partnering relationship with Central and South America and not a colonial relationship, which is again to seem what the president seems to be intending."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Warner, click here.
