Rand Paul calmly responding to Trump attacks and comments on regime change operations.

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KRISTEN WELKER:

All right. Well, we'll watch to see how it all unfolds, Senator. I do want to ask you about some comments that President Trump actually made about you. This was a post on Friday night. Let me read you, get your reaction on the other side. He said, quote, "Whatever happened to Senator Rand Paul? He was never great, but he went really bad. I got him elected twice in the great commonwealth of Kentucky, but he just never votes positively for the Republican Party. He's a nasty little guy." Why do you think President Trump is targeting you, Senator?

SEN. RAND PAUL:

I think the problem is this – is that in Washington what I represent some people describe as unusual, and the president describes it as weird that I'm for less debt and balanced budgets. But when I come home to Kentucky or when I travel the United States, people come up to me and say, "Stick to your guns. You're the only voice up there, Republican or Democrat, who's still talking about the debt and still talking about balanced budgets." But I don't take it too seriously. Look, I've known the president for over a decade. I've played golf with him many, many times. I enjoy his company. I was one of his biggest defenders on impeachment and would do so again. I think he's one of the best presidents, if not the best president of my lifetime. But it doesn't mean I will sit quietly and say, "Oh well, whatever you want to do." I was elected to have a voice, and so I continue to be a voice – like on the bombing of the Venezuelan boats, I think that's inappropriate. War with Venezuela without Congress's opinion or Congress's weighing in and authorization is inappropriate. The tariffs are bad for the economy, but it doesn't mean I dislike Donald Trump. So he gets mad at me sometimes, but I'm still one of his best supporters if he's willing to have it.

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KRISTEN WELKER:

All right. Well, you bring me to my next question, which is Venezuela. Obviously, you've been very focused on this. President Trump has authorized military strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. As you know, so far more than 20 people, Senator, have been killed in six different strikes. Do you believe that these strikes against these suspected drug boats are legal?

SEN. RAND PAUL:

No, they go against all of our tradition. When you kill someone, you should know, if you're not in – at war, not in a declared war, you really need to know someone's name at least. You have to accuse them of something. You have to present evidence. So all of these people have been blown up without us knowing their name, without any evidence of a crime. And for decades, if not centuries, when you stop people at sea in international waters or in your own waters, you announce that you're going to board the ship and you're looking for contraband, smuggling, or drugs. This happens every day off of Miami. But we know from Coast Guard statistics that about 25% of the time the Coast Guard boards a ship, there are no drugs. So if our policy now is to blow up every ship we suspect or accuse of drug running, that would be a bizarre world in which 25% of the people might be innocent. The other thing about these speed boats is they're – they’re 2,000 miles away from us. If they have drugs, they're probably peddling drugs to one of the islands of Trinidad or Tobago off of Venezuela. The idea that they're coming here is like – it’s a huge assumption and really should have to present some proof. It is the difference between war and peace. In war, though, you don't ask people's name. But if they want all-out war where we kill anybody and everybody that is in the country of Venezuela or coming out, that has to have a declaration of war. It's something that is not pretty, very expensive, and I'm not in favor of declaring war on Venezuela, but Congress should vote. The president shouldn't do this by himself.

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KRISTEN WELKER:

Let's talk about what appears to be an escalation. Because in an extraordinary moment, President Trump acknowledged that he has authorized a covert CIA operation inside Venezuela. The Pentagon has scaled up U.S. forces and military assets in the region. Here is what President Trump said about Nicolás Maduro this week. Take a look.

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KRISTEN WELKER:

You talk about war, Senator. Do you believe that President Trump wants to go to war with Venezuela?

SEN. RAND PAUL:

You know, I don't know what his actual intentions are. I can say, though, that not being a master of spy craft, if you announce that you're going to have covert CIA action, it's no longer covert. So if you're going to spy on a country, you usually don't announce that you're going to spy on a country. So it's a little bit unusual there. I do think there are members of his administration who have been agitating for war with Venezuela for a long, long period of time. And once again, there's the stick and the carrot. Yes, the president's right. They know that we would defeat them in a matter of days. But the chaos that ensues – you know, we've had regime change, and President Trump, one of the things I liked about him is that he for a long time said that he's not for regime change. He was against regime change in the first Iraq war. He was against regime change in Libya when President Obama promoted it. And out of both of those wars came trillions of dollars of expenditures but also decades more of violence and instability and chaos. And with regard to Libya, the spread of weapons to terrorists all throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. So regime change isn't always what – what is – what you expect to get.

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