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[00:00:00] We turn now to Republican Senator [00:00:02] Lindsey Graham. He joins us from Senica, [00:00:04] South Carolina. Welcome back to Face the [00:00:06] Nation, [00:00:08] >> Senator. [00:00:08] >> Thank you. Good morning. [00:00:10] >> On Friday, uh, Defense Secretary HGith [00:00:12] ordered the deployment of the Navy's [00:00:14] most advanced aircraft carrier, the [00:00:16] Gerald Ford, to Latin America. President [00:00:20] Trump was asked if he planned to ask [00:00:22] Congress for a declaration of war. Take [00:00:24] a listen. [00:00:26] >> I don't think we're going to necessarily [00:00:28] ask for a declaration of war. I think [00:00:30] we're just going to kill people that are [00:00:32] bringing drugs into our country. Okay. [00:00:34] We're going to kill them. You know, [00:00:36] they're going to be like dead. [00:00:38] >> You don't need an aircraft carrier to [00:00:40] hit drug boats. Uh are land strikes [00:00:43] planned? [00:00:44] >> Yeah. [00:00:46] Yeah. I think that's a real possibility. [00:00:48] I think President Trump's made a [00:00:50] decision that Maduro, the the leader of [00:00:52] Venezuela, is an indicted drug drug [00:00:54] trafficker. Uh that it's time for him to [00:00:56] go. that Venezuela and Colombia have [00:00:59] been um safe havens for narot terrorists [00:01:03] for too long. And uh President Trump [00:01:06] told me yesterday that he plans to brief [00:01:09] members of Congress uh when he gets back [00:01:12] from Asia about future potential [00:01:14] military operations against Venezuela uh [00:01:18] and Colombia. So there will be a [00:01:20] congressional briefing about a potential [00:01:22] expanding from the sea to the land. I [00:01:25] support that idea, but I think he has [00:01:27] all the authority he needs. Uh, Senator [00:01:29] Ggo on another network accused President [00:01:32] Trump and our military of committing [00:01:34] murder by [00:01:35] >> attacking these drug boats. Uh, to our [00:01:37] men and women in uniform, you're not [00:01:39] murdering anybody. You're making America [00:01:42] safer by going after a narot terrorist. [00:01:44] You're following lawful orders. Uh when [00:01:47] President Bush 41 took Nor uh Ortega out [00:01:50] in Panama, uh Reagan went into Grenada [00:01:53] to deal with the Cuban influence from [00:01:55] Grenada in our backyard. He has all the [00:01:58] authority in the world. This is not [00:01:59] murder. This is protecting America from [00:02:02] being poisoned by narco terrorists [00:02:04] coming from Venezuela and Colombia. [00:02:07] >> Well, a lot there. But just to clarify, [00:02:09] the examples you're citing also involved [00:02:11] ground troops. You said time for Maduro [00:02:14] to go. That sounds a lot like regime [00:02:16] change. Are you talking about troops on [00:02:18] the ground? [00:02:21] >> Uh, I'll let the president speak to [00:02:22] that. I'm talking about a briefing that [00:02:24] would expand military operations [00:02:27] potentially from the sea to the land. It [00:02:30] is time for Madura to go. It was time [00:02:31] for Ortega to go. Uh, you know, the [00:02:34] Monroe doctrine is being robustly [00:02:35] applied by President Trump. So these [00:02:38] military assets are moving forward to [00:02:40] deal with a country that's got blood on [00:02:43] its hands when it comes to Americans by [00:02:45] flooding our country with drugs from [00:02:48] Venezuela and Colombia. So I hope Maduro [00:02:52] would leave peacefully, but I don't [00:02:54] think he's going to stay around much [00:02:56] longer. I think President Trump is tired [00:02:59] of Venezuela being used as a staging uh [00:03:02] platform to poison America. Well, [00:03:05] there's a lot there, sir, but you cited [00:03:07] a Democratic senator's criticism. He's [00:03:10] not the only one. Um, some of your [00:03:13] Republican colleagues have been [00:03:14] uncomfortable with what little [00:03:16] information has been shared with [00:03:17] Congress. Take a listen. [00:03:19] >> If they want allout war where we kill [00:03:22] anybody and everybody that is in the [00:03:24] country of Venezuela or coming out, that [00:03:26] has to have a declaration of war. It's [00:03:28] something that is not pretty, very [00:03:31] expensive, and I'm not in favor of [00:03:33] declaring war on Venezuela, but the [00:03:34] Congress should vote. The president [00:03:36] shouldn't do this by himself. [00:03:37] >> If this was happening with this level of [00:03:39] insight under the Biden administration, [00:03:41] I'd be apoplelectic. [00:03:43] >> Todd Young also criticized this. What [00:03:45] exactly is the endgame? Because you're [00:03:48] talking about regime change in [00:03:49] Venezuela. The president says this is [00:03:51] about drug boats. [00:03:54] >> Yeah. Well, I think the endgame is to [00:03:56] make sure that Venezuela and Colombia [00:03:59] cannot be used to poison America, that [00:04:02] the naroterrorist [00:04:03] uh dictator Madura uh no longer be able [00:04:07] to threaten our country and to send in [00:04:09] drugs uh to kill Americans. Uh as to [00:04:13] Rand Paul, um I just disagree [00:04:16] fundamentally with his approach. Uh we [00:04:18] didn't have a declaration to go into [00:04:20] Panama. [00:04:22] Bush 41 went into Panama to replace the [00:04:25] leadership there because the Panama [00:04:28] leadership, Panameanian leadership were [00:04:30] working with drug cartels to threaten [00:04:32] our country. Reagan didn't have a [00:04:34] declaration of war, congressional [00:04:36] authorization to deal with Cuban [00:04:38] influence. So this idea of Rand Paul, I [00:04:42] just fundamentally disagree with to the [00:04:44] other senators. You deserve more [00:04:46] information and you're going to get more [00:04:48] information, but there is no requirement [00:04:51] for Congress to declare war before the [00:04:54] commander-in-chief can use force. Panama [00:04:56] and Grenada are two examples in our [00:04:59] backyard where Republican presidents [00:05:02] chose to go after countries and leaders [00:05:05] that were threatening our people. [00:05:07] But there there seem to be a number of [00:05:09] issues wound up in here. I I know you [00:05:12] personally used to serve as a judge [00:05:14] advocate in the Air Force. Um yeah, [00:05:18] >> we looked at at the JAG manual. [00:05:20] Preventative self-defense employed to [00:05:22] counter non-imminent threats is illegal [00:05:25] under international law. So, if we are [00:05:28] not at war and these suspected criminals [00:05:32] uh pose no threat of imminent violence, [00:05:34] isn't this potentially a war crime to be [00:05:37] killing the people on these boats and [00:05:39] then to be taking out a leader? [00:05:44] >> Uh, no, not at all. I don't know what [00:05:46] Manuel you're referring to, but I know [00:05:48] what President Bush 41 did. He took down [00:05:51] Ortega, the leader of Panama, uh because [00:05:53] he was involved in drug trafficking, [00:05:56] threatening our country. Venezuela is [00:05:58] now partnering with Hezbollah. Hezbollah [00:06:01] is running out of money because Iran is [00:06:03] weak. Partnering with drug cartels in [00:06:06] Venezuela. [00:06:07] >> No, it should have stopped. Here's what [00:06:09] here's what's new. You got a [00:06:11] commander-in-chief's not going to put up [00:06:13] with this crap. We're not going to sit [00:06:15] on the sidelines and watch boats full of [00:06:17] drugs come to our country. We're going [00:06:19] to blow them up and kill the people that [00:06:21] want to poison America. And we're now [00:06:23] going to expand operations, I think, to [00:06:25] the land. So, please be clear about what [00:06:28] I'm saying today. President Donald Trump [00:06:31] sees Venezuela and Colombia as direct [00:06:34] threats to our country because they [00:06:36] house narotist [00:06:38] organizations. The leader of Venezuela [00:06:42] is an indicted drug dealer in American [00:06:45] courts. So, yeah, the game is changing [00:06:48] when it comes to drug traffickers and [00:06:50] drug cartels. We're going to use [00:06:52] military force like we have in the past [00:06:55] to protect our country. That's the new [00:06:58] game we're playing and I'm glad we're [00:07:00] playing that game. And if I were Madura, [00:07:02] I'd find a way to leave before he goes [00:07:04] down. [00:07:05] >> What is trafficking cocaine an armed [00:07:08] attack on the United States? That's what [00:07:10] you're equating it to? [00:07:14] I I am saying that there's plenty of law [00:07:17] under article article two powers of the [00:07:20] president are designed to protect our [00:07:22] countries from threats foreign and [00:07:25] domestic. Was it illegal for Bush to [00:07:27] take nor Ortega out in Panama? Was it [00:07:30] illegal for B uh uh Reagan to go into [00:07:33] Grenada to stop Cuban influence building [00:07:35] this big long runway? There's plenty of [00:07:38] precedent here to do what he's doing. [00:07:40] But the game has changed. the game has [00:07:43] changed when it comes to narot [00:07:45] trafficking uh drug organizations. We're [00:07:48] going to take you out. [00:07:50] >> Well, you referenced something earlier, [00:07:52] sir. I want to come back to you said to [00:07:54] the men and women of the military that [00:07:56] they are carrying out lawful orders. [00:07:59] >> Um, Secretary Hith removed the top [00:08:03] uniformed lawyers in the Air Force. You [00:08:05] know this, the Navy and the Army because [00:08:07] he called them roadblocks to orders that [00:08:09] are given by a commanderin-chief. There [00:08:12] have been other departures as well. This [00:08:15] raises concern that commanders are not [00:08:18] being given adequate legal counsel. That [00:08:21] is why [00:08:23] >> you just said that sentence to assure [00:08:25] them. [00:08:26] >> That's that's garbage. That's absolute [00:08:30] garbage. [00:08:32] >> President Trump doesn't have the [00:08:34] >> No, no. I'm saying that the the theory [00:08:36] that President Trump's doing something [00:08:38] here illegally, dealing with a country [00:08:41] that's run by indicted drug dealer, it's [00:08:44] the same as Panama. There's a better [00:08:46] case to go into Venezuela than there was [00:08:49] Panama. There's a better case to deal [00:08:51] with Colombia than there was Grenada. [00:08:54] Yeah, I've been doing this all of my [00:08:56] adult life. I have all the confidence in [00:08:59] the world that President Trump has the [00:09:01] legal authority, but more importantly, [00:09:02] he's doing the right thing. More [00:09:04] Americans have died from cocaine and [00:09:07] fentanyl poisoning than any terrorist [00:09:09] group in the world. I am very pleased [00:09:11] that we now have a president who's going [00:09:14] to use the full force of of the American [00:09:16] people, the might of America to protect [00:09:19] us from naroterrorist states and drug [00:09:22] organizations. Keep it up, Mr. [00:09:24] President. We're not committing murder. [00:09:26] We're protecting our nation from people [00:09:28] who want to poison us. Well, there's [00:09:30] obviously buyers on the other end of it, [00:09:32] which is why the cartels are selling, [00:09:34] right? But I want Yeah, we'll do with [00:09:37] both. [00:09:39] >> Come back to when we talk about lawful [00:09:42] orders here. I myself spoke to a former [00:09:44] senior commander who said he want that [00:09:47] in writing [00:09:48] >> because of concern [00:09:51] >> that that this is going to be down the [00:09:53] line questionable. You've already heard [00:09:55] the orders to carry out operations. [00:09:58] You've already heard Democratic [00:09:59] lawmakers, including on this program, [00:10:01] say that they have concerns about future [00:10:03] prosecutions of [00:10:05] >> Well, act on your concerns. Why don't [00:10:07] you Why don't you I Okay, if you got [00:10:10] concerns, here's what we can do as [00:10:12] members of Congress. We can cut off [00:10:14] funding for military operations we don't [00:10:16] like. So, if you're concerned as a [00:10:18] Democrat or a Republican, why don't you [00:10:20] introduce legislation to cut off all [00:10:22] funding to the military uh when it comes [00:10:25] to attacking drug votes and going after [00:10:27] narotist states uh through the military, [00:10:30] you can do that. Uh go ahead and do it. [00:10:32] I'll vote no. I think has all the [00:10:34] authority in the world in article 2 and [00:10:37] international law to make sure that [00:10:39] countries like Venezuela can't be [00:10:41] staging areas to infiltrate drugs into [00:10:45] our country. It's not a I I think he has [00:10:47] all the legal authority in the world and [00:10:49] I'm just really glad he's doing this and [00:10:51] Mr. President, keep it up. [00:10:53] >> Well, uh we look forward to to hearing [00:10:55] those justifications when they are [00:10:57] shared with Congress. You made some news [00:10:58] there, sir. center. Thank you for your [00:11:00] time