WASHINGTON- The Trump administration faces intense scrutiny this week over its approach to Venezuela after turning its attention to the embattled nation, weighing U.S. military attacks against a Latin American state for the first time in more than 35 years.
President Trump scheduled a meeting with top generals and Cabinet officials on the matter at the White House on Monday night, discussing the targeting options now available with the deployment of more than a dozen warships to the Caribbean Sea.
Trump has sent mixed signals to the country's dictatorial president, Nicolás Maduro, whose grip on power since 2013 has decimated Venezuela's economy and sparked a massive migration crisis. Trump warned air traffic away from Venezuelan skies before speaking by phone with Maduro over the weekend, only to warn journalists trying to interpret his actions against predicting his next moves.
Trump's decision to go to war with Venezuela has become a source of alarm on Capitol Hill as new revelations emerge about his team's tactics to escalate the conflict.
The White House has accused Maduro of driving immigrants and drugs across US borders, and has begun to pressure his government with military attacks against maritime vessels (in international waters, but leaving Venezuela) that, according to the Department of Defense, have been used to smuggle illegal narcotics.
The first of those attacks on suspected drug traffickers, carried out on September 2, included a second attack ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “kill them all,” according to a Washington Post report.
The Post report has led the Republican-led House and Senate committees that oversee the Pentagon to promise “rigorous oversight” of attacks on ships. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he “would not have wanted” the military to launch a second strike to kill those who survived the initial attack.
“The first attack was very lethal, it was fine, and there were two people around,” Trump said before quickly adding, “but Pete said that didn't happen. I have great confidence in Pete.”
However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that Hegseth authorized multiple strikes against the target that day.
Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank M. Bradley, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, to conduct strikes “within his authority and the law to ensure that the ship was destroyed and the threat to the United States was eliminated,” Leavitt said at a news conference.
Trump also confirmed that he spoke by phone with Maduro, but declined to give more details about what was discussed.
“I wouldn't say it went well or badly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “It was a call.”
Disclosure of the conversation came as the administration stepped up its pressure campaign on Caracas over the holiday weekend, beginning with the president issuing a series of warnings.
Trump warned airlines and pilots on Saturday that the airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered “ENTIRELY CLOSED.”
Trump told reporters that he made the statement “because we consider that Venezuela is not a very friendly country.” But when asked if his warning indicated an imminent US airstrike on Venezuela, Trump demurred, telling 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 convince Trump about access for American oil companies – possibly at the expense of Russian and Chinese competitors – without any movement toward democratization in Venezuela, an outcome that would disappoint many seeking a change of leadership in Caracas.
“A clear sticking point here is what kind of negotiations Caracas and Washington want. So far, the Trump administration has expressed interest in negotiating which flight Maduro will take to leave the country,” Ramsey said. “For Maduro, that is clearly a failure. So until we see a clear sense of flexibility from Washington and Caracas, I think this stalemate will continue.”
Maduro has consistently refused to leave office, despite US sanctions, mass protests and several crackdowns during the first Trump administration that Caracas considered coup attempts. “The reality is that many previous attempts to condition talks on Maduro's immediate departure have gone nowhere,” Ramsey added.
There are no signs of weakening support for Maduro within the military, nor have there been the types of large-scale defections seen within his security forces in 2019, when Trump, in his first term, initially sought to overthrow Maduro. At that time it refrained from carrying out a direct military attack.
A few hours after the president's comments, Hegseth posted an altered image of the children's book character Franklin the Turtle reimagined as a militarized, machine-gun-wielding figure firing at suspected drug boats. The cover of the mock book was titled: “A Classic Franklin Story: Franklin Attacks Narcoterrorists.”
Hegseth posted the image on social media with the caption: “For your Christmas wish list…”
A spokesperson for Kids Can Press, the publisher of the Franklin the Turtle books, condemned Hegseth's use of his “beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and represents kindness, empathy and inclusion.”
“We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent or unauthorized use of Franklin's name or image that directly contradicts these values,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Trump sparked more controversy in the region when he announced on Friday his plan to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who was convicted last year on cocaine trafficking charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States.
U.S. prosecutors said Hernández received millions of dollars in bribes to help traffickers smuggle 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. Once, they alleged, the right-wing president boasted about putting “drugs up the noses of gringos.”
Trump said Hernández had been a victim of political persecution, although he offered no evidence for that claim.
News of the pardon shocked many in Latin America and raised new questions about Trump's U.S. military campaign in the region, which White House officials insist is aimed at combating drug cartels they compare to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda.
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) accused Trump of hypocrisy for freeing a convicted drug trafficker and suggested the ongoing U.S. military campaign in the region was politically motivated.
“Don't tell me that Donald Trump is killing people on boats in the Caribbean to stop drug trafficking,” Castro said in X.
While Trump's endgame in Venezuela is unclear, he has made his wishes explicit in Honduras.
Ahead of Sunday's presidential elections in the Central American nation, Trump endorsed conservative candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, of the National Party, to which Hernández also belonged. An early vote count on Monday showed Asfura had a narrow lead over Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla.
Times editors Wilner and Ceballos reported from Washington, Linthicum and McDonnell from Mexico City.
