Trump delivers ultimatum to Maduro to flee Venezuela IMMEDIATELY – as 11 US warships and 15,000 troops bear down on the Caribbean

Donald Trump warned Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to flee with his wife or face the consequences of US loading its warships and troops in the region.

The talks took place Friday amid a series of deadly American drone strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers in the region, killing more than 80 people.

The US presence in the region has become more threatening with the deployment of at least 11 warships and 15,000 troops; These include a unit capable of conducting ground invasions to stop alleged ‘narco-terrorists’.

The president even guaranteed Maduro safe passage for himself, his wife, and his son if he resigned immediately. Miami Herald reported.

A source familiar with the call said Maduro asked Trump for a global pardon, but the president refused, then asked to retain control of Venezuela’s armed forces in exchange for free elections.

Before Maduro rejected the idea of ​​resigning, Trump also said no to this idea.

While the president confirmed on Sunday that the talks took place at a time of rising tensions between the two countries, Caracas criticized what he called US preparations for an attack.

Trump also backed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday after lawmakers from both parties said they supported congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against alleged terrorists, citing a published report that said Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members as part of the Sept. 2 attack.

A source familiar with the call said Maduro (pictured) asked Trump for a global pardon, but the president refused, then asked to retain control of Venezuela’s armed forces in exchange for free elections.

Lawmakers said they didn’t know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true and some Republicans were skeptical, but that attacking survivors of the first missile strike raises serious legal concerns.

“The order was to kill everyone,” two people with direct knowledge of the operation told the newspaper.

Trump was behind Hegseth and said: ‘I don’t know anything about this. He said he didn’t say anything like that.”

When he repeated that Hegseth ‘didn’t do that’, he was asked if he would admit it if Hegseth did.

‘He said he didn’t, so I don’t have to make that decision.’

But Trump said on Sunday the administration would ‘look into’ the matter, adding: ‘I wouldn’t want a second attack on this.’

Both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill agreed Sunday that, if true, Hegseth was in big trouble.

“If this were true, this would rise to the level of a war crime,” said Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia.

Trump also backed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday after lawmakers from both parties said they supported congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against alleged terrorists.

“Obviously, if this were to happen, it would be a very serious situation, and I agree that would be an illegal act,” said Ohio Republican Mike Turner.

Following the Post’s report, Hegseth said on Friday on

“Our current operations in the Caribbean are legal under both U.S. and international law; all of our actions comply with the law of armed conflict and have been approved by top military and civilian lawyers at the lowest level of the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.

Meanwhile, the US is increasing pressure on Venezuela with a massive military buildup in the Caribbean, designating a drug cartel allegedly run by Maduro as a terrorist group, and Trump’s ominous warning that Venezuelan airspace is ‘closed’.

Washington says the aim of the military deployment, which began in September, is to stop drug trafficking in the region, while Caracas insists the ultimate goal is regime change.

‘I can’t say whether it went well or badly. “It was a phone call,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

The New York Times reported Friday that Trump and Maduro discussed a possible meeting. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the meeting included amnesty conditions in case Maduro resigns.

Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ talk show on Sunday that the US is offering Maduro the chance to leave his country and go to Russia or elsewhere.

The talks took place Friday amid a series of deadly American drone strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers in the region, killing more than 80 people.

Maduro, in power since 2013, followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, by appointing officers to senior government posts and cultivating a strong military loyalty.

The United States has condemned Maduro’s corrupt rule, citing the president’s election victory in 2024, despite evidence that his opposition has more votes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently called Maduro an illegitimate president by naming the Cartel de Los Soles a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Cartel de Los Soles is a group of high-level individuals who follow Maduro and corrupt the country’s military, intelligence, legislature and judiciary, including encouraging terrorist violence and drug trafficking, Rubio said.

Tensions between Venezuela and the US have risen in recent months as the Trump administration launched a crusade to defeat ‘narco-terrorists’ transporting drugs in international waters.

But Venezuela and the countries that support it insist that such an organization does not exist.

Many Venezuelan experts say what Washington calls the Cartel of the Suns amounts to corruption of top officials by criminal gangs.

The United States also does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate winner of last year’s presidential election.

The US presence in the region has become even more threatening, with the deployment of at least 11 warships and 15,000 troops; These include a unit capable of conducting a land invasion to stop alleged ‘narco-terrorists’.

Although Trump has not publicly threatened to use force against Maduro, he has said in recent days that efforts to stop Venezuela’s “overland” drug trafficking would begin “very soon.”

The president also described the military expansion to troops in a phone call he reportedly made on Thanksgiving Day, suggesting the operations could escalate to ground attacks.

‘In recent weeks, you have been working to deter the large number of Venezuelan drug traffickers. “Of course, there are not many people coming by sea anymore,” he said.

Trump added that it was “easier” to catch potential drug traffickers on the ground and that it would start “very soon.”

‘We warn them: Stop sending poison to our country,’ he added.

Last week, Navy ships were seen getting closer and closer to the South American country.

The new wave of deployments began with the arrival of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group in August. In October, the US announced that the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the 1,106ft USS Gerald R Ford, would also join the mission.

The carrier arrived in Caribbean waters on November 11 with more than four thousand sailors, fighter aircraft and support ships, including USS Thomas Hudner, USS Rampage and USS Normandy.

The Pentagon calls the estimated presence of more than 15,000 troops and 11 US warships in the region ‘Operation Southern Lance’.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Maduro said eight million civilians were receiving militia training.

But the army’s equipment is decades old, and most of it was purchased from Russia in the early 2000s.