Trump to Discuss Venezuela with National Security Team
President Donald Trump is expected to convene a meeting with key national security officials in the Oval Office later on Monday to strategize on Venezuela’s situation.
Attendees are likely to include War Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Dan Caine, who is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and chief of staff Susie Wiles. This information comes from a report by CNN that cites unnamed sources.
This crucial meeting regarding a possible military intervention in Venezuela follows a recent post by President Trump on Truth Social, in which he declared that the airspace “above and surrounding Venezuela” should be regarded as “closed in its entirety.”
The Trump administration has been dispatching military resources to the Caribbean, signaling a readiness for potential military action against Venezuela, particularly aimed at the Nicolás Maduro regime. The administration has accused this regime of participating in drug trafficking with international cartels.
In a conversation over the weekend, President Trump acknowledged that he spoke with Maduro last month, stating with a vague response, “I don’t want to comment on it. The answer is yes,” when questioned about the discussion by reporters.
When pressed for details, Trump sidestepped, saying, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call.”
According to the Miami Herald, during that phone call, Trump allegedly issued an ultimatum, urging Maduro to resign and offering safe passage out of the country—“but only if he agreed to resign right away.”
“You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now,” Trump reportedly told Maduro.
The report states that Maduro rejected the idea of immediate resignation, instead requesting immunity from global prosecution while wanting to retain control of the military in exchange for relinquishing political power.
Moreover, Trump remarked over the weekend, “Don’t read anything into it,” in response to questions about whether closing Venezuelan airspace suggests imminent U.S. airstrikes.
He elaborated that the airspace should indeed be closed “because we consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country.”
“They sent millions of people, really, and probably a number in excess of that; a lot of those people shouldn’t be in our country from jails, from gangs, drug dealers, from all of the people that came into our country shouldn’t have been here causing a lot of problems and drugs,” Trump added.
