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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after speaking to troops via video from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
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Alex Brandon/AP
The Venezuelan government has condemned President Trump's statement on Saturday calling for the airspace above Venezuela to be closed.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."
The Venezuelan government responded with a statement saying Trump's comments violate international law and are a "colonialist threat" to the country's sovereignty.
"No authority outside the Venezuelan institutional framework has the power to interfere with, block, or condition the use of international airspace," the statement said.
As of Sunday afternoon, Flightradar24 shows planes continuing to fly in Venezuelan airspace.
This comes a day after the Senate and House Armed Services committees said they would look into the Pentagon after The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to kill all crew members aboard a boat suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean in September. NPR has confirmed the Washington Post's reporting.
The military has carried out at least 21 strikes and killed at least 82 people on alleged drug boats as part of "Operation Southern Spear," a campaign that the Trump administration says is aimed at tackling drug-trafficking.
Venezuela said in its statement that "such statements represent an explicit use of force, which is prohibited by Article 2, paragraph 4 of the U.N. Charter of the United Nations."
Democrats have also strongly criticized the administration's strategy, saying the military didn't have enough evidence that the boats were carrying drugs before conducting the strikes. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, told ABC'S This Week on Sunday it's possible the military's actions could be considered a "war crime," and that Hegseth should be held accountable.
"They've never presented the public with the information they've got here," Van Hollen said, "But it could be worse than that, right? If that theory is wrong, then it's plain murder."
However, Republican Senator Eric Schmitt, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News that Trump is acting "well within his Article 2 powers" when it comes to curbing drug smuggling by striking the boats.
"I think it's a two part strategy," Schmitt said. "One is to get rid of the precursors that are coming from China, and then take out the cartels that are distributing this and bringing it to the United States of America."
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have expressed frustration at Trump's stance on Venezuela, and that the Trump administration conducted the strikes without legislative approval.
"Trump's reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X on Saturday, hours after Trump's post about Venezuelan airspace.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally, also posted on Saturday, saying "Reminder, Congress has the sole power to declare war."
