US President Donald Trump has said he is not considering an attack inside Venezuela amid a major U.S. military buildup in the region, seemingly contradicting statements he made earlier this month.
The United States is currently sending fighter jets, warships and thousands of troops to the Caribbean, and the world’s largest warship, the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, is sailing toward the coast of Venezuela.
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On Friday, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One if media reports that he was considering an attack inside Venezuela were true, and he said “no.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio conveyed the same message in response to a Miami Herald article that said Washington’s military was ready to attack Venezuela.
“Your ‘source’ who claimed to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ tricked you into writing a false article,” Rubio said in a post to X.
President Trump’s brief response on Friday appeared to contrast with statements he made regarding Venezuela at least twice earlier this month.
The US president said last week that he would not “necessarily seek a declaration of war” to proceed, saying: “I think we’re just going to kill the people who are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them.”
“Now they (drugs) are coming in by land…you know, land is next,” he added.
Since early September, the US military has launched a series of attacks on shipping in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 62 people and destroying 14 boats and a semi-submarine.
The Trump administration has said the attacks targeted suspected drug smugglers, but has not yet provided the public with evidence to back up that claim.
In a statement on Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the attack and its mounting human toll as “unacceptable”.
“The United States must stop these attacks and take all necessary steps to prevent the extrajudicial killings of those aboard these boats, regardless of the alleged criminal activity,” Turk said.
Meanwhile, a new YouGov poll released Friday found fewer Americans now support the presence of the U.S. Navy around Venezuela than in September.
In the latest poll, only 30 percent of those surveyed said they strongly or somewhat supported deploying a navy, while 37 percent disapproved.
By contrast, in September, slightly more people supported it, at 36%, and 38% opposed it.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has responded to the US escalation by accusing the US government of “fabricating a new forever war” against him.
He also denied the US allegations regarding drugs.
“Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine,” he said last week, but experts say most drugs are smuggled into the United States by American citizens through the land border in Mexico.
Trinidad and Tobago puts military on high alert
Despite Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio’s comments, Trinidad and Tobago, which borders Venezuela and hosts U.S. warships, on Friday put its military on alert and recalled all personnel to their bases.
According to AFP, a message sent by the military said Trinidad’s military was placed on “provincial 1 alert level.” Police said “all travel is restricted” until further notice.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Guardian newspaper also confirmed that the soldiers had been ordered to turn themselves in.
On Tuesday, Venezuela suspended a major gas deal with neighboring Trinidad and Tobago due to the island nation’s acceptance of the US warship Gravely.
Trinidad and Tobago said the warship was there for regular and planned joint military exercises with the United States.
US senators seek answers on ‘anti-drug’ strategy
Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said requests for information on the legal basis for U.S. attacks on ships in the Caribbean went unanswered.
In an unusual bipartisan move, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed released a statement Friday, along with two letters to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dated Sept. 23 and Oct. 6, requesting more information about the airstrike.
Wicker, who also chairs the committee, and Reid, the top Democrat, said the requested documents have not been provided to date.
