Trump weighs options on Venezuela strikes amid congressional alarm

WASHINGTON— The Trump administration faced harsh scrutiny this week for its approach to Venezuela after turning its focus to the beleaguered country and considering US military strikes against a Latin American state for the first time in more than 35 years.

President Trump has scheduled a meeting with top generals and Cabinet officials at the White House on Monday evening to discuss available target options for the deployment of more than a dozen warships to the Caribbean Sea.

Trump has sent conflicting signals to the country’s dictatorial president, Nicolás Maduro, whose rule since 2013 has decimated Venezuela’s economy and sparked a massive migration crisis. Trump warned air traffic to keep air traffic clear of Venezuelan skies before speaking to Maduro by phone over the weekend, but only warned reporters trying to interpret his actions to predict his next moves.

Whether Trump will choose 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 accused Maduro of transporting immigrants and drugs to American borders and began to pressure his government with military strikes targeting naval vessels in international waters but departing from Venezuela that the Defense Department claimed were used to smuggle illegal drugs.

The first of these attacks, targeting alleged drug traffickers on September 2, included a second attack in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered “kill them all,” according to a report by the Washington Post.

The Post’s report prompted the Republican-led House and Senate committees that oversee the Pentagon to pledge “rigorous oversight” of the boat attacks. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he “did not want” the military to launch a second attack to kill survivors of the first attack.

“The first attack was very deadly, it would have been OK and there had been two people around,” Trump said, quickly adding: “But Pete said it didn’t happen. I have great confidence in Pete.”

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that Hegseth authorized multiple strikes against the target that day.

Leavitt said at a news conference that Hegseth authorized U.S. Special Operations Command Adm. Frank M. Bradley to conduct strikes “within his authority and the law to ensure the destruction of the boat and the elimination of the threat to the United States.”

Trump also confirmed that he spoke with Maduro on the phone, but declined to provide details about what was discussed.

“I can’t say it’s going well or badly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “It was a calling.”

The disclosure of the meeting came as the administration intensified its pressure campaign on Caracas over the holiday weekend, starting with the president issuing a series of warnings.

Trump warned airlines and pilots on Saturday that the airspace above and around Venezuela must be taken into account.TOTALLY CLOSED.”

Trump told reporters he made the statement because “we think Venezuela is not a very friendly country.” But when asked whether his warning hinted at an imminent US airstrike on Venezuela, Trump told a reporter: “Don’t make any sense of it.”

Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research group, said there was no guarantee that talks with Maduro would lead to his departure or that the Trump administration would be satisfied with any other outcome.

Without taking any steps toward democratization in Venezuela, Maduro could offer Trump access to U.S. oil companies — possibly at the expense of Russian and Chinese rivals — which would disappoint many seeking a change of leadership in Caracas.

“A clear sticking point here is what kind of negotiations Caracas and Washington want. The Trump administration has so far expressed interest in negotiating what flight Maduro will take out of the country,” Ramsey said. “This is clearly a non-starter for Maduro. So until we see a clear sense of flexibility in Washington and Caracas, I think this stalemate will continue.”

Maduro has consistently refused to leave office despite punitive US sanctions, mass protests and several attacks during the first Trump administration, which Caracas regards as a coup attempt. “The truth is that many previous attempts to condition talks on Maduro’s immediate departure have gone nowhere,” Ramsey added.

There is no sign of waning support for Maduro within the military, and there have been no large-scale defections of the kind seen in the security forces in 2019, when Trump tried to oust Maduro during his first term. He avoided direct military attack at that time.

A few hours after the president’s remarks, Hegseth posted a modified image of the children’s book character. Franklin the Turtle has been reimagined as a militarized figure Suspicious drug boats were opened fire with a machine gun. The fake book cover was titled: “A Classic Franklin Story: Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.”

Hegseth shared the photo on social media with the caption: “For your Christmas wish list…”

Trump sparked further controversy in the region on Friday when he announced his plan to pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who was convicted of cocaine trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States.

US prosecutors in question Hernández accepted millions of dollars in bribes to help smugglers smuggle 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. They claimed that the right-wing president once bragged about “putting drugs up gringos’ noses.”

Trump said Hernández was the victim of political persecution but provided no evidence for that claim.

News of the pardon shocked many in Latin America and raised new doubts about Trump’s US military action in the region; White House officials insist it is aimed at combating drug cartels, which they compare to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda.

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) accused Trump of hypocrisy for releasing a convicted drug trafficker and suggested the ongoing U.S. military campaign in the region was politically motivated.

“Don’t tell me Donald Trump is killing people on boats in the Caribbean to stop drug trafficking,” Castro said on channel X.

While Trump’s end game in Venezuela is unclear, he has made clear his desires in Honduras.

Ahead of Sunday’s presidential election in the Central American country, Trump endorsed Nasry “Tito” Asfura, the conservative candidate of the National Party, of which Hernández is a member. An early vote count on Monday showed Asfura with a narrow lead over Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla.

Times staff writers Wilner and Ceballos reported from Washington, Linthicum and McDonnell from Mexico City.