President Trump gave Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro a strongly worded ultimatum as tensions flared with the South American nation — telling him to resign and leave or else, according to a bombshell report.
During a call between Trump and Maduro, the socialist president demanded that he be allowed to maintain control of Venezuela’s military if he paved the way for free elections there, said the Miami Herald, citing sources. Maduro also reportedly sought global amnesty for all of his alleged crimes.
Trump’s refusal on both counts was said to be swift as he followed up with an offer that Maduro may not be able to refuse: Leave now or else.
The pair’s talks quickly broke down, with a US pol Sunday lamenting that the ongoing “war” between both sides is already deadlier than Vietnam for his state.
“We have a war that’s coming through fentanyl, through opioids, through cocaine,” US Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) told “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the avalanche of drugs from Venezuela to the US that Trump blames Maduro for and is trying to stop.
“It killed 100,000 Americans last year,” McCormick said of the drug trade. “That’s twice the number of people that died in eight years of Vietnam — 4,000 Pennsylvanians.”
After the phone call between Trump and Maduro failed to reach a detente, the US president announced he was closing the airspace around the South American country — as America’s largest warship, the USS Gerald F. Ford, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit — capable of amphibious invasion — float offshore.
Trump also warned over the weekend that military operations inside Venezuela could begin “very soon.”
Trump only told reporters Sunday that he spoke with Maduro recently, adding, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly.”
The tense phone call between Trump and Maduro reportedly took place late in the week of Nov. 16, according to the New York Times, just days after Trump said he was open to talking with the dictator.
The call reportedly saw Trump’s and Maduro’s teams go over the details of what a surrender from the Venezuelan strongman would be like, given that the state department has a bounty on his head for $50 million.
Trump informed Maduro during their chat that he, his wife and son would be allowed to leave Venezuela safely, but they must do it immediately, sources said.
“First, Maduro asked for global amnesty for any crimes he and his group had committed, and that was rejected,” a source familiar with the call told the Herald.
“Second, they asked to retain control of the armed forces — similar to what happened in Nicaragua in ’91 with Violeta Chamorro. In return, they would allow free elections,” the source said.
That proposal was also rejected, while the demand that Maduro resign immediately was made.
The offer of amnesty was also extended to Maduro’s top allies, the Herald noted.
After the breakdown, Trump ramped up pressure on Venezuela and warned that the US would target drug-trafficking networks “by land” soon.
By Saturday, he made an announcement on social media that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered “closed in its entirety,” stoking fears of a looming war in the South American country of 28 million people.
It remains unclear how Trump intends to enforce the no-fly decree, as the US has no authority over Venezuelan airspace.
But by Sunday afternoon, a FlightRadar24 map showed that there were no international planes flying over Venezuela.
Flights to Aruba and Curacao — near the Venezuelan coast — appeared to be taking the long way around to avoid Venezuela.
The moves come after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety warning about “heightened military activity in and around Venezuela,” causing several major airlines to suspend their flights there.
Venezuela retaliated by revoking operating rights to Iberia, TAP, Avianca, Latam, Colombia, Turkish Airlines, and GOL, further isolating the Latin American country.
Maduro and his allies condemned the developments as a form of American “colonial” aggression, accusing the Trump administration of trying to use military force to seize the country’s vast oil reserves.
McCormick defended Trump’s moves as the proper step to take on the narco-terrorists operating in Venezuela.
“When President Trump was running, he and I both campaigned on the same thing, which was [to] secure the border, designate the cartels as narco-terrorists, and use our military in a strategic-focused way to destroy this cartel infrastructure,” McCormick said.
“I think that’s what’s happening with Venezuela.”
The US Secretary of the Navy also framed the fight against Venezuelan drug traffickers as a war.
“Drugs kill more Americans than we’ve ever lost in wars. So I think at the end of the day, the president has correctly identified this as an attack on the country, which it is,” John Phelan said on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump” on Saturday.
There were more than 105,000 drug overdose deaths in the US in 2023, according to the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly double the more than 58,000 American servicemen who died in the Vietnam war.
While the White House blames Venezuelan gangs for trafficking illegal opiates and cocaine to the US, a 2019 DEA report found that most fentanyl — the leading source of American overdose deaths — comes from Mexico, through precursors shipped from China.
Venezuela was one of 23 nations that Trump declared as “major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries” in September — along with China, India, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Despite the escalating military situation in the Caribbean, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) stressed that Trump has been clear he won’t dispatch boots on the ground to the troubled Latin American country.
“No, he’s made it very clear we’re not going to put troops into Venezuela. What we’re trying to do is protect our own shores,” Mullin told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The US has been conducting a sea-focused campaign since September, striking alleged drug boats originating from Venezuela and other Latin American nations.
The administration has since carried out at least 21 fatal strikes on small boats.
In one such bombing, the US allegedly killed survivors after bombing a drug boat near Trinidad in a so-called “double tap” strike under orders from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to “kill everybody” — which the former Fox News contributor denies.
Critics and human rights experts have slammed the bombings as extrajudicial executions, with Congress opening inquiries into the alleged “double tap” strike.
