President Trump has told his advisers that he’s planning to speak directly with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Axios reported on Monday, citing administration officials.
While the Trump administration has continued to build up its forces in the Caribbean, bomb boats in the region, and leak information to the media that suggests it’s preparing a regime change operation in Venezuela, Trump has signaled in recent weeks that he’s open to diplomacy with Maduro’s government after previously cutting off talks. “I see a diplomatic solution as being very likely,” one Trump adviser told Axios.
But it’s unclear what sort of deal Trump would be satisfied with that doesn’t involve Maduro voluntarily stepping down from power, something the Venezuelan leader is very unlikely to do. Maduro has reportedly already offered a deal that would give US companies access to his country’s vast natural resources and reduce ties with China, Russia, and Iran, but the administration rejected it. The Venezuelan government has also continued to cooperate with the US on deportations of Venezuelan nationals.
Sources told Axios that Trump’s openness to talks with Maduro suggests that missile strikes on Venezuela aren’t imminent, but said attacks on alleged drug-running boats in the region would continue. “Nobody is planning to go in and shoot him or snatch [Maduro] — at this point. I wouldn’t say never, but that’s not the plan right now,” one official said.
Another US official also described Trump as a “hawk” on Venezuela, disputing the idea that the US is only escalating in the region because of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “The hawk in Venezuela is Donald Trump, followed by [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller, followed by Marco Rubio,” the official said.
The report came the same day that the State Department provided the administration with a pretext for attacking Venezuela by designating the so-called Cartel of the Suns, a group that doesn’t actually exist, a “Foreign Terrorist Organization.” The US claims Maduro is the leader of the Cartel of the Suns, which is a term used to describe a network of Venezuelan officials allegedly involved in drug trafficking, but it doesn’t exist as a structured organization.
