Sources close to Donald Trump have claimed that he is planning to speak directly with the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, as the U.S. military’s top officer arrives in the Caribbean.
General Dan Caine’s visit to Puerto Rico comes as tensions between the United States and the South American petrostate skyrocket in the wake of the Trump administration’s bombing of Venezuelan boats allegedly smuggling drugs to North America.
Sources close to the president told Axios that Trump’s desire to meet with Maduro could mean that a possible military action against mainland Venezuela might not be as imminent as once thought.
"Nobody is planning to go in and shoot him or snatch him — at this point. I wouldn't say never, but that's not the plan right now," one source said, referencing conspiracy theories that Trump was planning to assassinate Maduro. "In the meantime, we're going to blow up boats shipping drugs. We're going to stop the drug trafficking."
The source added that any conversations between Maduro and Trump remain in the “planning stages.”
The United States has launched 21 missile strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs into the U.S., in a scheme known as “Operation Southern Spear.” So far, 83 people have been killed in the strikes.
As tensions continue to escalate, 13 Democrats in the Senate have written a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth demanding to know the “domestic and international legal basis for recent military strikes” on the drug boats.
Democrats have argued that redacted files linked to military strikes in Libya in 2011 and Syria in 2018 were released by the DOJ in an effort to justify the necessity of each military operation.
“Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force,” the letter read, as the 13 Democrats urged Bondi and Hegseth to “enhance transparency in the use of deadly force by our Nation’s military.”
Meanwhile, General Caine’s office said in a statement, seen by the Associated Press, that the official reason for his visit to Puerto Rico is so the top official can “engage with service members and thank them for their outstanding support to regional missions.”
However, this will be Caine’s second visit to the region since the U.S. started ramping up its military presence in the area. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, has already been deployed in the Caribbean.
The presence of Caine, who is both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Trump’s chief military adviser, and the unprecedented military buildup in the region have continued to ignite fears about a strike against the sovereign nation.
The United States has piled on a massive amount of pressure onto the Venezuelan government, with one report even claiming that the White House was planning to drop politicized leaflets on Caracas, the nation’s capital.
The leaflets reportedly offered $50 million in return for information that would lead to Maduro's removal, according to The Washington Post.
The Trump administration even doubled down on its anti-Maduro stance just yesterday, when it declared that the Cartel de los Soles was a foreign terrorist organization. This group has strong ties to the country’s ruling government.
Maduro has been in power since 2013 and is not recognized by more than 50 countries as the nation’s legitimate leader after he refused to concede defeat in the 2024 presidential election.
The socialist leader has continued to call for peace between Venezuela and the United States, even breaking into a dance at a rally on the weekend as he urged the easing of tensions.
Last week, he sang a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine, as the president urged supporters to heed the message of the song.
Maduro’s critics have welcomed Trump’s aggressive actions in the region.
Maria Corina Machado, the winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize and the unofficial leader of Venezuela’s opposition to Maduro, has described Trump as the “biggest opportunity we’ve ever had” for regime change.
She has also praised the U.S. President for bombing the alleged drug boats.
“I totally support his strategy,” Machado said. “And I’ve said on behalf of the Venezuelan people that we are very grateful. I think it is the right thing to do. It’s courageous. It’s visionary.”
The Independent has contacted the DOJ and the White House for comment.
