Chairman comments on Greenland purchase talk and U.S. approach to Venezuela

Summary

The chairman offered views on President Trump's reported interest in buying Greenland and on U.S. efforts toward Venezuela, suggesting Greenland could host expanded bases and saying U.S. efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela could be tied to oil revenues; he also linked Venezuelan drug flows to U.S. overdose harms but quoted an unclear fatality figure.

The interviewer raised recent headlines about President Trump saying he wanted to buy Greenland; the chairman (unnamed) responded that Greenland could be a friendly location for a U.S. base and that buying it "looks like a business deal" involving the island's roughly 30,000 residents.

"Greenland can certainly be a, a friend of ours," the chairman said, adding that "we've got one up there now, but maybe a larger one," and that he did not think military force would be necessary.

On Venezuela, the chairman linked drug flows to severe overdose problems in the United States and said he supports efforts to "get democracy back to Venezuela," suggesting oil revenues could be used to support a political transition. The transcript includes a numeric overdose reference that is unclear (the chairman said, in garbled form, "I think I saw another day 300000 kids or people who died, overdoses"); that figure could not be independently verified from the session and is presented here as an unclear quote.

These remarks were framed as the chairman's views during a broader interview about economic and committee priorities; he did not cite statutes, treaties or formal policy directives in the session.