President Trump said of Venezuelan drug traffickers, “We’re going to start interdicting them from the ground.” “It’s easier on land, but that will start soon.”
President Trump says he may meet with President Maduro
President Trump has said he may meet with Venezuelan President Maduro amid a pressure campaign against Venezuela that includes a major U.S. military buildup.
President Donald Trump told the U.S. military on Thanksgiving that military operations would soon include land strikes, as U.S. forces build up near Venezuela and attack suspected drug smuggling vessels.
“We’ve been working on interdicting Venezuelan drug traffickers for the last few weeks,” President Trump said in a phone call with military officials, alluding to a boat attack. “We’re going to start interdicting them from land as well. It’s easier on land, but it’s going to start soon.”
Since early September, the Trump administration has attacked at least 21 boats in international waters in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing 83 people, many of them Venezuelan. Without providing evidence, administration officials said the ships were attempting to transport drugs to the United States.
The military action has drawn criticism from legal experts, who question the legality of using deadly force rather than attempting to arrest a suspected trafficking vessel and its cargo. Senate Democrats this week stepped up their demands for the Trump administration to publicly explain the legal justification for carrying out the attack.
“Few decisions are more important to a democracy than the use of deadly force,” the 13 senators, all members of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, wrote in a Nov. 24 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
President Trump has said for weeks that he is considering ground strikes against targets inside Venezuela. Tensions are rising as the United States has stationed its largest aircraft carrier, two guided missile destroyers, and a special operations ship near Venezuela. Approximately 12,000 troops are stationed in the area.
On November 24, the Trump administration designated the Cartel de los Soles, which Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims to lead, as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of further escalating a long-standing rivalry.
But even as he considers escalating military action, Trump has left the door open to diplomacy, saying he may talk directly with Maduro amid a pressure campaign on Latin American leaders.
“I might talk to him, we’ll see,” Trump said on November 25, when asked about Maduro while en route to Florida on Air Force One.
Contributors: Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Josh Meyer, USA TODAY
