Trump leaves open option of war with Venezuela
His comments came after ramping up the US military around the South American country, striking alleged drug smuggling boats and seizing sanctioned oil tankers.
Bart JansenWASHINGTON – President Donald Trump told NBC News that war remains possible with Venezuela, a country whose leadership he labeled a terrorist regime and which he has targeted militarily because of alleged drug smuggling.
"I don’t rule it out, no," Trump told NBC on Dec. 18 in a phone interview.
Trump ordered a blockade Dec. 16 of oil tankers leaving and arriving in the South American country, part of a months-long buildup of U.S. military forces.
The U.S. seized a tanker on Dec. 10 bound for Cuba with cargo owned by a businessman with ties to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"If they're foolish enough to be sailing along, they'll be sailing along back into one of our harbors," Trump told NBC News.
The U.S. military is also striking boats allegedly smuggling drugs out of Venezuela. The attacks on 28 boats have killed more than 100 people.
Congress is scrutinizing a second strike on Sept. 2 on a boat where people were clinging to wreckage in the water after the initial explosion.
Trump aims to pressure Venezuela to change its leadership through his military campaign. He declared Maduro’s regime a foreign terrorist organization in a social media post on Dec. 16.
He told members of the military on Nov. 28 that strikes on land could begin “very soon.”