U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) made an appearance in Gulf Shores on Monday morning, speaking at the Alabama Forestry Association’s Public Policy Seminar.

In a 45-minute keynote speech to open the day’s events, Tuberville, who is running for governor in this year's general election, touched on a variety of subjects, including his work in Washington D.C., U.S. Space Command’s impending move to Huntsville, his stance on America’s Muslim community and the ongoing situation involving the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Tuberville voiced his support for President Donald Trump's actions in Venezuela and said he plans to meet with him over the weekend to discuss the situation. Maduro and his wife appeared before a New York court on Monday with federal charges of alleged drug trafficking. Both pleaded not guilty.

Trump said in a Jan. 3 press conference at Mar-a-Lago that the U.S. would "run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said members of Congress were not notified in advance. The last time Congress has declared war, a right assigned in the U.S. Constitution, was for World War II, according to PBS News.

The president has to report to Congress within 48 hours of introducing the U.S. military into hostilities and terminate the use of the military within 60 days unless Congress approves, according to the 1973 War Powers Resolution. If approval is not granted and the president deems it an emergency, an additional 30 days are granted for ending operations. Congress has not passed an authorization for operations in Venezuela, PBS News reported.

The U.S. will receive as many as 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil from Venezuela, which has the largest crude reserves in the world but is on the brink of economic collapse because of Maduro's corrupt administration and U.S. sanctions, Trump said this week on Truth Social. He said Venezuela would share in the profits from the sale.

“At the end of the day, President Trump is saving lives,” Tuberville said. “I’ve seen all the videos blowing all these boats out of the water. They’re multi-thousand dollar boats, they’re not fishing boats, loaded with drugs. It’s really going to affect that part of the country. President Trump doesn’t want anything to do with controlling it, but this lady, [Delcy] Rodriguez, from the vice president going to the president, if she’s gonna be a dictator like Maduro, it ain’t gonna end well.”

Following his appearance in Gulf Shores, Tuberville traveled to Birmingham, where he filed his qualifying paperwork at the headquarters for the Republican Party of Alabama, officially entering the state’s governor race. Tuberville told those in attendance that he was motivated to return to Alabama to help his home state, citing an emphasis on improving education and referencing the “Mississippi Miracle,” which saw reading scores in the neighboring state of Mississippi reach historic highs.

“We’re going to look at all levels of education, starting with K-12. I’d like to start workforce development a lot earlier in the lower grades,” Tuberville said. “There’s no reason we can’t have a miracle here, too. [Alabama] has made a lot of progress, but we can make a lot more progress.”

When asked about what his approach with Baldwin County will be in the event he were elected governor, Tuberville said he plans to have someone from the governor’s office oversee both Baldwin and Mobile counties to make sure they are “working hand in hand” but noted he will not be involved in any decision making within the county other than “enhancing what the county and the city councils and the mayors can do.”

“I won’t be in on those discussions because this is one of our crown jewels down here, and people are gonna move here by the droves, so there’s got to be a plan for the future,” Tuberville said. “We need industry, but we also need farming. We’re selling a lot of our farm land, but we need more people to move down here, but we don’t have to ask them. They’re coming. People are retiring. This is a great area, it just needs a different plan than we do in Auburn and Tallassee, and everybody’s different, you know.”