Trump refuses to rule out sending US troops to Venezuela

Donald Trump has refused to dismiss the possibility of deploying US troops to Venezuela amid the administration's war on drug gangs.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly begged for peace in recent days, but the president remains determined on eliminating what he calls 'narco terrorists' and halting the flow of cocaine and other drugs into the US.

On Monday, Trump suggested he might engage in talks with Venezuela's authoritarian leader and declined to rule out the possibility of deploying US troops on the ground. 

'I don't rule out anything,' he told reporters in the Oval Office, as reported by The New York Times. 'We just have to take care of Venezuela.'

Trump's remarks come just days after US forces conducted the 21st lethal strike of Operation Southern Spear using the nation's most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, killing 'three male narco-terrorists' on Sunday.

Tensions have been building between the two nations in the wake of Trump's White House comeback. By September, the leaders' escalating exchange of threats spilled into deadly action.

The intensifying campaign of strikes against small boats has now left at least 83 people dead, even as US officials have yet to present evidence supporting their accusations. 

His latest broad threat left Trump plenty of room to maneuver, and it remains unclear whether he is planning any imminent military action. 

Until now, Trump has repeatedly insisted he is not planning a land invasion. Yet with missile-firing Navy destroyers and the USS Ford in the region, roughly 15,000 troops are now deployed - more than at any point in decades, according to NYT.

In September, the president denied any intention to overthrow Maduro, insisting that the operations targeted drug cartels rather than the Venezuelan government.

At the same time, he offered a $50 million reward for Maduro's head, accused him of running a 'narco-state' and oversaw the designation of Venezuela's security elite as terrorists. 

Coinciding with Sunday's deadly strike in the Caribbean, Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that the State Department would label Venezuelan group Cartel de Los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization.

According to the department, the group - reportedly led by Maduro himself - would be barred from financial transactions and any ties to it would be prohibited.

'I'm not in love with the people running Venezuela,' Trump told reporters this week.  

In private meetings, Trump has zeroed in on Venezuela's world-leading oil reserves while his top aides continue to push for Maduro's removal.

Maduro, however, insists the threat is not about drugs but about power, accusing Washington of using the war on cartels as a reason to topple his government and seize Venezuela's immense oil and military resources. 

In a Situation Room meeting last week, Trump and his senior military advisers evaluated options that included sending Special Operations forces and carrying out operations on the ground in Venezuela.

He abandoned diplomatic efforts with Venezuela last month, but has recently floated the idea of speaking with Maduro, leaving pressing questions about how committed he is to a deal that might prevent further strikes. 

'We may be having some discussions with Maduro, we'll see how that turns out,' Trump said on Sunday evening as he prepared to leave Florida, adding that the Venezuelan dictator 'would like to talk.'

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When asked what the discussion would cover and whether he was interested in negotiations, the president replied: 'What does it mean? You tell me, I don't know. I talk to anybody. I talk to you.' 

Yet even some of Trump's own allies have expressed unease about the strikes, with the UK reportedly axing intelligence-sharing with the US on suspected smuggler boats. 

But Trump has pressed ahead, with the Pentagon officially folding the strikes into a wider operation described by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as removing 'narco-terrorists in our Hemisphere.'

Now, the presence of the USS Ford in international waters has experts concerned that a full-blown military confrontation could be approaching.

The former US ambassador to Venezuela, James Story, cautioned that the chances of military action have jumped dramatically - from 10 percent in recent months to 80 percent.    

Anger is only mounting over the deaths of civilians in Venezuela, with many protesting that there is no evidence linking them to criminal syndicates. 

For Maduro, the deaths serve as proof that the United States is willing to kill Latin Americans at sea without trial and has leveraged the strikes to rally domestic support.

The Trump administration argues the strikes are justified, claiming that under the president's declaration of an armed conflict with drug cartels, all individuals on the vessels are legitimate combatants. 

On Friday, Trump said he had 'sort of made up' his mind on a course of action, without giving away what that might be. 

Meanwhile, Maduro warned that 'Venezuela is confronting the biggest threat… in the last 100 years' and promises to turn the country into a 'republic in arms' if the US attacks.

Trump also suggested Monday at the White House that he was also open to strikes in Mexico, which he described as an additional source of drugs flowing into the US.

'Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? It's OK with me. Whatever we have to do to stop drugs,' he said.

'I didn't say I'm doing it, but I'd be proud to do it. Because we're going to save millions of lives by doing it.'