Schumer said that Trump did not have any concrete plan for Venezuela and the briefing posed more questions than it answered.
"When the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so-called nation building, it always ends up hurting the United States," said Schumer.
Trump's top officials on Monday evening briefed the Gang of Eight along with the chairpersons and ranking members of the armed services and foreign affairs committees. As per convention, the Gang of Eight, which comprises majority and minority leaders of both the chambers along with the chairpersons and ranking members of Senate and House intelligence committees, are given classified briefings on national security- and intelligence-related matters.
Following the Monday's briefing led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, congressional leaders reacted along party lines. While Republicans toed Trump's line, Democrats slammed the invasion of Venezuela.
Schumer further said that he was afraid that Trump would not stop at Venezuela and invade more countries.
"I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries. And in conclusion, when the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so-called nation building, it always ends up hurting the United States. I left the briefing feeling that it would again," said Schumer.
SENATE MINORITY LEADER Chuck Schumer said the congressional briefing on Venezuela “posed far more questions than it answered,” warning that efforts at regime change historically end "up hurting the United States.” pic.twitter.com/7JzjWREpy9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2026
Since winning the 2024 election, Trump has been repeating a list of countries and territories he would annex either through political coercion or invasions. He has said he would annex Denmark's Greenland island and would launch a military invasion if needed. He has threatened Panama with an invasion and said he would annex Canada one day through political coercion. At one point, he had also announced the United States would take over the Gaza Strip.
In recent days, Trump and his top allies have ramped up the pressure on Denmark and have repeatedly said they would one day annex Greenland.
Contrary to Schumer, Republican lawmakers supported Trump completely on the invasion of Venezuela and whisking away of Nicolas Maduro. They also said that Trump's violation of legal requirement to notify Congress ahead of the military action was okay. They had been supporting Trump well before the briefing.
Ahead of the briefing, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he had no concerns about the lack of notification for Congress and called such advance consultation “ill-advised” given the level of sensitivity of the mission and adding that the information received so far had been “sufficient for me”, according to The New York Times.
Republican lawmakers also sought to downplay Trump's statements. Despite Trump explicitly declaring he would "run" Venezuela and stating that the mission amounted to a regime change, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “This is not a regime change. This is a demand for a change of behavior by a regime.”
Johnson further said, “We are not at war. We do not have US armed forces in Venezuela. And we are not occupying that country.”
