Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) on Saturday defended the Trump administration's moves in the Caribbean, suggesting Venezuela is working with Russia to traffic drugs into the U.S.

"One of the biggest concerns I think is, of course, that Venezuela is now a puppet state for Russia, and of course, Russia is at this point involved in the war in Ukraine," the Pennsylvania Republican told NewsNation's Hena Doba, adding that the South American nation is "seemingly willing to fight a proxy war with the United States in the Western Hemisphere."

"It's concerning from that standpoint, "he continued. "We don't really want to be, obviously, in a war with Russia, but at the same time, we have a duty to protect our citizens."

He added that that Russia is using Venezuela to move a "massive amount of fentanyl and drugs" across the border and killing hundreds of thousands of people.

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