Why Trump is hinting at strikes inside Venezuela: All you need to know

Donald Trump has hinted that the US may strike inside Venezuela after attacks on suspected drug boats, raising tensions with President Maduro as both sides trade accusations

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Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen sharply after President Donald Trump suggested that US forces could soon strike targets inside Venezuela. His comments follow a series of deadly air strikes on boats Washington claims were used by Venezuelan drug traffickers.

 

After repeated attacks on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, Trump said during a cabinet meeting that the US military could expand operations onto Venezuelan territory.

 

"We're going to start doing those strikes on land too. Land is much easier; we know where they live. We know where the bad ones live, and we're going to start that very soon," he said.

 

Trump’s comments come as his administration faces scrutiny over the deadly air campaign. More than 80 people have been killed so far in the US strikes on maritime targets in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

 

The controversy deepened after reports that the US military conducted a second strike on a suspected drug vessel on September 2, hours after the first attack.

 

Trump denied any knowledge of the follow-up action. "I didn't know about the second strike. I didn't know anything about people. I wasn't involved, and I knew they took out a boat, but I would say this, they had a strike," he said.

 

He added that War Secretary Pete Hegseth "was satisfied" with the first strike but did not know about “a second attack, having to do with two people".

 

Hegseth said he saw the “first strike live” but then “moved on to my next meeting.” He claimed he learned about the second strike later and did not see survivors. “It's called the fog of war," he said.

 

The White House has said the order for the second strike came from Admiral Frank M “Mitch” Bradley, who heads the US Special Operations Command.   

 

Phone call with Maduro

 

Trump also confirmed he had a recent phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, even as both sides traded fresh accusations.

 

"I wouldn't say it went well or badly. It was a phone call," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

 

US media have reported that the two discussed a possible meeting and even potential amnesty terms if Maduro were to step down. Caracas has not confirmed this.

 

Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin said the US had offered Maduro the chance to leave for Russia or another country.

 

What lies behind the Trump-Maduro rift?

 

Washington accuses Maduro of running the “Cartel of the Suns”, an alleged drug-trafficking ring. The US has offered a $50 million reward for his capture. Venezuela, along with several countries that back it, denies the cartel exists. Experts say the term instead refers to corruption among senior officials.

 

The US also does not recognise Maduro as the legitimate winner of last year’s presidential election.

 

Although Trump has not explicitly threatened full military action against Maduro, he has warned that operations to stop drug trafficking "by land" would begin “very soon".

 

Venezuela takes its case to OPEC

 

Caracas says the US is preparing an attack and is trying to seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

 

In a letter to OPEC, read by Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro wrote that Washington "is trying to seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves, the biggest in the world, by using military force".

 

Venezuela has asked OPEC for help in stopping what it calls increasing US aggression.

 

Inside Venezuela, US strikes have drawn sharp condemnation. Jorge Rodriguez, head of Venezuela’s legislature, met families of those killed and called the attacks unlawful.

 

"If a war had been declared and led to such killings, we would be talking about war crimes," he said. Since no war has been declared, he added, the actions could only be seen as "murder or extrajudicial executions".

 

US military buildup; flights still operating

 

The US has deployed its largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, and American fighter jets and bombers have flown near Venezuela in recent days. Despite this, Caracas airport continues to function normally.

 

Six airlines have suspended flights to the country, but deportation flights from the US to Venezuela will continue. Caracas confirmed this after initially suggesting the US had halted the flights.

 

More than 13,000 Venezuelans have been deported back this year through chartered flights, even as US strikes continue off the Venezuelan coast.

 

(With agency inputs)