In a significant escalation of rhetoric, former U.S. President Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged the possibility of armed conflict with Venezuela during a recent NBC News interview. When questioned about potential military engagement, Trump stated unequivocally, “I don’t rule it out, no,” marking a notable shift from his previous campaign promises to avoid foreign entanglements.
The interview, conducted on Thursday and released Friday, reveals Trump’s ambiguous stance regarding Venezuelan leadership. While refusing to explicitly confirm whether ousting President Nicolás Maduro remains his ultimate objective, Trump asserted that the Venezuelan leader fully understands American demands, remarking, “He knows exactly what I want. He knows better than anybody.”
This verbal escalation coincides with intensified military operations in the Caribbean region. Since early September, the Pentagon has reportedly sunk approximately 28 vessels suspected of drug trafficking operations, resulting in at least 104 fatalities. The U.S. maintains substantial naval presence off Venezuela’s coast, officially designated as counter-narcotics operations—a justification that Caracas has dismissed as pretext for regime change.
Trump’s administration has implemented increasingly severe economic measures against Venezuela, including Tuesday’s announcement of a comprehensive blockade targeting all sanctioned oil tankers entering or exiting Venezuelan waters. The former president indicated that additional maritime seizures are likely, warning that vessels deemed “foolish enough to be sailing along” would be redirected to American ports.
These aggressive postures contradict Trump’s 2024 campaign commitments, where he repeatedly pledged to keep the United States out of foreign conflicts and declared during his victory speech that he would “not going to start a war; I’m going to stop wars.”
Domestic opposition to these policies appears substantial. A recent Quinnipiac University survey indicates that 63% of American adults oppose military actions against Venezuela, with only 25% expressing support. Bipartisan lawmakers have raised concerns regarding both the legality of Caribbean military strikes and the transparency of administration motives beyond stated counter-narcotics objectives.