Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) criticized President Donald Trump’s Venezuela policy, accusing the administration of reviving an imperialist approach to foreign policy. He described the strategy as a return to "gunboat diplomacy" where might makes right.

Khanna posted his criticism on X on Saturday, sharing a clip from an interview with MS NOW. He argued that the U.S. was abandoning its commitment to decolonization in favor of a colonial model.

Criticism of Foreign Policy Approach

Khanna stated that Trump’s actions rolled back the clock 100 years. He cited U.S. actions in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Haiti as examples of this shift.

"It’s not just that it’s strategically wrong. It’s morally wrong," Khanna wrote. He added that the situation was "sad to see" and argued the U.S. should have left this model behind.

Decolonization and Historical Context

Khanna referenced his grandfather, who he said was jailed twice while fighting for Indian independence from Britain. He cited former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s push for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to decolonize.

"Trump is rolling it all back because he simply believes in a world where might makes right, where you take what you can," Khanna said.

Trump Touts Oil Deal

Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. had reached an agreement with Venezuela for majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. He called it "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY" and said it would cost U.S. taxpayers nothing.

The President claimed the deal would strengthen U.S.-Venezuela relations and potentially lower gasoline prices by expanding access to Venezuela’s oil.

Geopolitical Implications

Venezuela reportedly considered leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The Trump administration explored acquiring stakes in about a dozen Venezuelan oil fields holding nearly 90 million barrels of proven reserves.

Interim leader Delcy Rodríguez thanked Trump for seeking cooperation. Trump praised her leadership and noted that Venezuelan oil was beginning to flow.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a trilateral summit between President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a secret trip to Moscow this week. The move aims to revive stalled peace negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

According to Axios, Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence chiefs Sergey Naryshkin and Alexander Bortnikov on Tuesday. This marks his first personal role in the diplomatic effort. U.S. officials briefed Zelensky on Friday about the proposed meeting. While Trump has floated the idea before and Zelensky has backed it, Putin has so far declined.

Expanded diplomatic objectives

Beyond proposing the summit, Ratcliffe pushed for immediate diplomatic progress. He explicitly called on Moscow to restart peace negotiations with Kyiv. Additionally, the envoy sought to curb Russia's strategic partnerships elsewhere by urging the Kremlin to reduce its economic and security ties with Iran.

Trump told Axios that Ratcliffe’s visit was “standard business,” not a warning to Russia against striking NATO territory. However, The New York Times separately reported that Ratcliffe gave Bortnikov a “bleak assessment” of the war and urged Russia to strike a deal before its position worsens.

Significance of the NATO Article 5 message

Despite Trump’s characterization, earlier reports from The Wall Street Journal indicated that Ratcliffe’s primary message centered on two points: that the United States remains committed to NATO's Article 5, and that Russia should not test the alliance. NATO's Article 5 is the cornerstone of the alliance's mutual defence framework, stipulating that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.

Context of recent violence

The proposal comes as a Russian drone strike killed at least 37 people overnight Friday in Myla, a village in Kyiv’s Bucha district. Officials marked it as one of the war’s deadliest attacks this year. Following the attack, Zelensky posted a video on X saying, “A criminal investigation is under way. All the facts must be established.”