Trump weighs options over Venezuela strikes amid congressional alarm

Washington – The Trump administration is facing intense scrutiny this week over its handling of Venezuela after shifting its focus to the troubled nation, weighing US military strikes against the Latin American nation for the first time in 35 years.

President Trump held a meeting Monday evening at the White House with top generals and Cabinet officials to discuss targeting options now that dozens of warships have been deployed to the Caribbean.

Trump has sent conflicting signals to President Nicolas Maduro, the country’s dictator, who has been in power since 2013, has crippled Venezuela’s economy and fueled a massive migration crisis. Trump warned air traffic away from Venezuela’s skies before speaking with Maduro over the weekend, only to warn reporters trying to interpret his actions against predictions of his next actions.

Whether Trump will go to war with Venezuela has become a source of concern on Capitol Hill as new revelations emerge about his team’s tactics to escalate the conflict.

The White House has accused Maduro of running migrants and drugs across the U.S. border, and has pressed his government to target naval vessels in international waters, but out of Venezuela — that the Defense Ministry claims are being used to smuggle illegal drugs.

The first of these raids targeting drug traffickers, which took place on September 2, included a second strike ordered by Defense Secretary Pat Hegseth to “kill them all,” according to a Washington Post report.

The Post’s report prompted the Republican-led House and Senate committees that oversee the Pentagon to pledge “rigorous oversight” of the boat strikes. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he “didn’t want” the military to launch a second attack to kill those who survived the first attack.

“The first attack was very deadly, it was good, and if there were two people around,” Trump said before quickly adding, “But Pete said it didn’t happen. I have a lot of faith in Pete.”

Still, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt confirmed Monday that several strikes against that day’s target were authorized by Hogseth.

Higseth authorized Adm. Frank M. Bradley, the U.S. special operations commander, to “conduct strikes to the best of his authority and within the law to ensure that the ship is destroyed and the threat to the United States is eliminated,” Leavitt said at a press conference.

Trump also confirmed that he spoke with Maduro by phone, but declined to elaborate on what was discussed.

“I wouldn’t say it was better or worse,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “It was a call.”

The disclosure of the talks came as the administration stepped up its campaign of pressure on Caracas over the holiday weekend, beginning with the president issuing a series of warnings.

Trump warned airlines and pilots on Saturday that airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered “completely closed.”

Trump told reporters he made the announcement because “we don’t consider Venezuela a very friendly country.” But when asked if his warning was a sign of imminent US airstrikes in Venezuela, Trump bristled and told a reporter: “Don’t read anything into it.”

There is no guarantee that talks with Maduro will lead to his departure, or that the Trump administration will be satisfied with any other outcome, said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research group.

Maduro could challenge Trump on access to U.S. oil companies — possibly at the expense of Russian and Chinese rivals — without making any moves toward democracy in Venezuela, an outcome that would frustrate many seeking a change of leadership in Caracas.

“One clear point here is what kind of negotiations Caracas and Washington want. The Trump administration has so far shown interest in negotiating which plane Maduro will take out of the country,” Ramsey said. “For Maduro, it’s clearly a non-starter. So until we see a clear sense of flexibility from Washington and Caracas, I think this tension will continue.”

Maduro has consistently refused to leave office despite U.S. sanctions, mass protests and various attacks during Trump’s first administration that Caracas considers coup attempts. Ramsey added: “The reality is that many previous attempts to condition Maduro to negotiate an immediate exit have gone nowhere.”

There are no signs of weakening support for Maduro in the military, nor of the large-scale defections seen in his security forces in 2019, when Trump tried to oust Maduro early in his first term. At that time, he avoided a direct military attack.

Hours after the president’s remarks, Hegseth posted a photo altered from the children’s book character Franklin the Turtle as a military figure firing a machine gun at suspected drug boats. The fake book cover was titled: “The Classic Franklin Story: Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.”

Hegseth posted the photo on social media with the caption: “For your Christmas wish list…”

A spokesperson with Kids Can Press, the publisher of Franklin’s turtle books, condemned the use of Hegseth’s beloved Canadian icon who has inspired a generation of children and stands for kindness, empathy and inclusiveness.

“We strongly condemn any derogatory, violent or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly conflicts with these values,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Trump sparked further controversy in the region when he announced plans on Friday to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted last year of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States.

U.S. prosecutors said Hernandez took millions of dollars in bribes to help smugglers smuggle 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. Once, they claimed, the right-wing president bragged about stuffing “drugs up a gringo’s nose.”

Trump said Hernandez was the victim of political persecution, though he offered no evidence for that claim.

The news of the pardon surprised many in Latin America and raised new doubts about Trump’s US military campaign in the region, which White House officials insist is aimed at fighting drug cartels they liken to terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda.

Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) accused Trump of hypocrisy for freeing a convicted drug trafficker and suggested the ongoing US military campaign in the region was politically motivated.

“Don’t tell me Donald Trump is killing people on boats in the Caribbean to stop drug trafficking,” Castro said on X.

While Trump’s endgame in Venezuela remains unclear, he has made his demands clear in Honduras.

Ahead of Sunday’s presidential election in the Central American country, Trump endorsed conservative candidate Nasri “Tito” Esfora of the National Party, to which Hernandez was affiliated. Initial polls on Monday show Esfora with a narrow lead over Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasrallah.

Times staff writers Willner and Ceballos reported from Washington, Lantham and McDonnell from Mexico City.