This was a phone call." Trump warned on Saturday that Venezuelan airspace should be considered "closed" and dramatically intensified his threats. Although he did not publicly specify that he would use force against Maduro, in recent days he repeated that efforts to stop the Venezuelan drug trafficking "by land" would begin "very soon." Threat to Maduro Washington claims that Maduro heads a supposed drug cartel. Among the forces he deployed since September is the world's largest aircraft carrier, which increased tensions with Caracas. "And we're going to start with that very soon too," U.S. President Donald Trump told the press during a meeting with his cabinet at the White House. The head of state insisted that U.S. operations against drug cartels will begin very soon, and not only in Venezuela. Last week, he had warned that his armed forces would act on the ground against supposed Venezuelan drug traffickers, and addressing pilots and airlines, he told them they must consider Venezuelan airspace "closed in its entirety." The countries that are in the crosshairs for attacks are those that manufacture and sell fentanyl or cocaine, he clarified, and said he heard that Colombia produces cocaine and sells it to the United States. "We told him he could go to Russia or another country." When asked if Trump planned to attack Venezuela, the senator from Oklahoma replied: "No, he has made it very clear that we are not going to send troops to Venezuela. What we are trying to do is protect our own coasts." "We know the routes they take." "Anyone who does that and sells it to our country is subject to attacks," he stated. Conversation with Maduro The head of the White House confirmed that over the weekend he had spoken by phone with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who accuses him of using the anti-drug fight as a pretext to deploy significant military resources in the Caribbean with the aim of overthrowing him. Asked by reporters about the conversation with Maduro, he replied: "I wouldn't say it went well or badly. We know everything about them. We know where the bad guys live." "We gave Maduro the opportunity to leave," said Republican Markwayne Mullin, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, to CNN on Sunday. Washington, December 2, 2025 (NA) – "On land it is much easier."
