This is an adapted excerpt from the Jan. 6 episode of “The Briefing with Jen Psaki.”
Donald Trump doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t take any recreational drugs (that we know of). But he has a different kind of addiction: Trump is addicted to feeling like he is powerful.
He lives for the dopamine rush that comes with big public displays that make him feel strong and important — actions that feed his fragile ego and quell his insecurity.
For the president, this is all about the spectacle. It’s about the images of toughness and conquest.
He suggested as much last month, when he publicly admitted to having a “possessive and addictive type personality.”
Trump craves the high that comes with public displays of power so much that he doesn’t concern himself with the consequences of his actions. Because, by the time the dust finally settles, he’s already chasing his next dopamine hit.
Trump’s decision to invade a foreign country and arrest its president is a perfect example of this. He relished the images of the dramatic overnight raid to capture Nicolás Maduro. He loved the scene of Maduro being perp-walked off a plane in his tracksuit into an American prison.
He even told his favorite Fox News morning program that he watched the attack unfold like a “television show,” highlighting the “speed” and the “violence,” and calling it “an amazing thing.”
See, for the president, this is all about the spectacle. It’s about the images of toughness and conquest.
It’s why he is obsessed with the idea that the U.S. is now going to “keep” Venezuela’s oil. It’s a fantasy he has been fixated on for almost 40 years: seizing oil wherever the U.S. can flex its military might. Trump has clearly fantasized about doing this for a very long time, and he may have finally accomplished that goal.
On Tuesday evening, in a post on Truth Social, the president said Venezuela would be turning over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “High Quality, Sanctioned Oil” to the U.S. and that the money from that oil would be “controlled by” him.
Now, for context, 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil is roughly equivalent to the amount of oil the U.S. produces every three to four days, so this is not exactly a huge windfall.
But setting that aside, how is this supposed to work? What legal basis does the U.S. have to seize this oil? What does he mean when he says it will be controlled by him? And what does Venezuela get in return?
None of this feels particularly well-thought-out — but Trump doesn’t care. Because just like with everything else he does, once the high of the announcement wears off, there is no plan for what comes next.
Which is why, four days after their attack on Venezuela, the Trump administration still hasn’t given us any clear indication of what their long-term plan is for the country they’re apparently pillaging for oil.
The morning after the raid on Maduro’s home, Trump was asked who was in charge of Venezuela. “It’s largely going to be, for a period of time, the people that are standing right behind me,” he told reporters. “We’re going to be running it. We’re going to be bringing it back.” The people standing behind the president in that moment were White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In the days since those men got that assignment from Trump, they have made it pretty clear they are not exactly interested in taking on that task. Trump has already moved on and started searching for another dopamine hit — singling out the next countries he may target next. When asked about his role in the process on Monday, Miller passed the buck to Rubio, who has labeled it a “Department of War operation.” Hegseth also isn’t claiming responsibility and said it’s Trump who ultimately “sets the terms.” It seems nobody wants to actually deal with the fallout of the president’s decisions. But none of that buck-passing has prompted Trump to pause for a moment and make a plan with his national security team on how exactly this is all going to go down in the country he just attacked, including what happens to the 30 million people who live there. Instead, he has already moved on and started searching for another dopamine hit — singling out the next countries he may target next, including Colombia, Mexico, Cuba and Greenland. Look, the fate of Venezuela after Maduro is still a huge unknown. There are a lot of questions, but Trump is already eying a new conquest — the next Latin American leader he can topple, or a Danish territory he can seize to make himself feel big and strong. Allison Detzel contributed.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden. Recommended
