President Donald Trump has dismissed fears of a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, saying he doesn’t expect war but believes Nicolás Maduro’s regime is nearing collapse.
“I doubt it. I don’t think so,” Trump told 60 Minutes when asked if the United States was preparing for war. But when pressed on whether Maduro’s days in power were numbered, he was unequivocal: “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”
The remarks come amid a series of U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean, part of Washington’s campaign to weaken the networks sustaining the Venezuelan dictatorship. Maduro, indicted in the U.S. on narcotics charges, has accused Washington of using the drug war as cover for “regime change.”
While regional critics denounce the strikes as excessive, Trump’s tone suggests confidence that growing economic and military pressure will end Maduro’s rule without the need for a full-scale conflict.
