Members of Donald Trump’s inner circle are fed up with his handpicked special missions envoy.
Trump aides are claiming that Ric Grenell has been quietly sidelined from U.S.-Venezuela policy discussions after repeatedly advocating for making nice with leader Nicolás Maduro, Semafor reported.
He’s done so as Trump is publicly turning up the heat on the country’s socialist leader. The president announced this month that the U.S. military had destroyed three different boats allegedly crewed by members of the Tren de Aragua gang smuggling drugs to the U.S. from Venezuela.
The first attack, which killed 11 people in international waters, has been described by critics as a serious violation of human rights, possibly amounting to a war crime.
But Trump isn’t backing down. Just this week, he issued a warning to Venezuela on his Truth Social platform.
“We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions, which includes the Worst in the World Insane Asylums, that Venezuelan ‘Leadership’ has forced into the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Saturday.
“Thousands of people have been badly hurt, and even killed, by these ‘Monsters.’ GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!”
The White House has also described Maduro as “not a legitimate president” and a “fugitive head of this cartel.”
Then there’s Grenell, who told CBS this week that he is “engaging” with Venezuela at Trump’s request.
“I’ve spoken to Mr. Maduro, I’ve gone down to Venezuela, and I continue to talk to his team,” he said.
Administration officials told Semafor that is certainly not the case. They told the outlet he is no longer involved in Venezuela policy—despite that being, technically, his job.
“Unfortunately, Ric Grenell’s personal comments have been out of step with the president and administration, and the president himself and secretary of state should be deemed as the official policymakers,” one senior official told the outlet.
Another Trumpworld source went further, telling Semafor Grenell “appears to have created a new genre of Maduro fan fiction where the dictator is just a good guy who’s misunderstood, where drugs aren’t a problem, and where providing hard currency to the world’s most wanted terrorist isn’t a big deal.”
Grenell’s alleged timeout, however, will at least give him a chance to focus on his other Trump-appointed gig as chairman of the Kennedy Center.
In September, it was reported that ticket sales for its new look programming were in crisis, with swathes of empty seats expected, according to The Washingtonian. The magazine also reported that revenue from subscriptions had fallen off a cliff, plummeting by almost half.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Grenell for comment. Grenell did not respond to Semafor with a request for comment.
The post Trump Allies Fume as Envoy Cozies Up to Foreign Adversary appeared first on The Daily Beast.
