Trump confirms call with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he had spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but did not provide details about what the two leaders discussed.
“I don’t want to comment on that. The answer is yes,” Trump said when asked if he had spoken to Maduro. He was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.
The New York Times first reported that Trump had spoken with Maduro earlier this month and discussed a possible meeting between them in the United States.
“I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call,” Trump said of the conversation.
The revelation of the phone call comes as Trump continues to use bellicose rhetoric regarding Venezuela, while also considering the possibility of diplomacy.
On Saturday, Trump said the airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered “entirely closed” but gave no further details, raising anxiety and confusion in Caracas as his administration ramps up pressure on Maduro’s government.
Asked if his comments about airspace meant attacks on Venezuela were imminent, Trump said, “Don’t read anything into it.”
The Trump administration has been weighing options related to Venezuela to combat what it has described as Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans. The Venezuelan socialist president has denied having links to illegal drug trafficking.
Reuters has reported that options the United States is considering include an attempt to overthrow Maduro and that the US military is prepared for a new phase of operations after a massive military buildup in the Caribbean and nearly three months of attacks on suspected drug trafficking ships off the coast of Venezuela.
Human rights groups have condemned the attacks as illegal extrajudicial killings of civilians, and some US allies have expressed growing concerns that Washington may be violating international law.
Trump said he would investigate whether the US military had carried out a second attack in the Caribbean that killed survivors during an operation in September, adding that he would not have wanted such an attack.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the attacks are legal but intended to be “lethal.”
Trump told military service members last week that the United States would begin ground operations “very soon” to apprehend suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.
Maduro and senior members of his administration have not commented on the call. When asked about it on Sunday, Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said the call was not the topic of his news conference, where he announced an investigation by lawmakers into attacks by US ships in the Caribbean.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Jeff Mason, Pete Schroeder and Steve Holland; Editing by Deepa Babington, Sergio Non and Chris Reuse)