Donald Trump has played down the possibility of a US war with Venezuela, but suggested Nicolás Maduro’s days as the country’s president are numbered.
Asked if the US was going to war against Venezuela, the US president told CBS’ 60 Minutes: “I doubt it. I don’t think so. But they’ve been treating us very badly.”
His comments come as the US continues to launch strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. The Trump administration says the strikes are necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the US.
Trump rejected suggestions that the US action was not about stopping narcotics, but aimed at ousting Maduro, a long-time Trump opponent, saying it was about “many things”.
At least 64 people have been killed by US strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since early September, CBS News – the BBC’s US news partner – reported.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump said: “Every single boat that you see that’s shot down kills 25,000 on drugs and destroys families all over our country.”
Pushed on whether the US was planning any strikes on land, Trump refused to rule it out, saying: “I wouldn’t be inclined to say that I would do that… I’m not gonna tell you what I’m gonna do with Venezuela, if I was gonna do it or if I wasn’t going to do it.”
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