Trump Says He Doubts US Will Go to War With Venezuela, but Maduro’s Days Are Numbered

The U.S. president’s comments came as U.S. forces increased their operations in the Caribbean region.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea, in Japan on Oct. 29, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump said during a CBS “60 Minutes” interview aired on Nov. 2 that he doubts that the United States will go to war against Venezuela.

Trump was asked about the possibility of war with the South American country after U.S. forces increased operations in the Caribbean in recent months and carried out strikes on multiple vessels that the Department of War said were drug-trafficking boats.

“I doubt it. I don’t think so,” Trump said. “But they’ve been treating us very badly, not only on drugs. They’ve dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country that we didn’t want.”

When asked whether the military operations were meant to counter narcotic activity in the Caribbean or to oust Maduro, Trump replied, “No, this is about many things.”

Trump suggested that the actions were a response to the illegal migration of Venezuelans to the United States and illegal drug trafficking.

“This is a country that allowed their prisons to be emptied into our country,” he said. “Millions of people a year walked into our country totally unchecked, unvetted. We had no idea who they were. And we’re never going to let that happen again.”

When asked whether Maduro’s days as Venezuela’s president are numbered, Trump replied: “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”

Trump declined to comment on the possibility that the U.S. military would carry out land strikes against Venezuela.

“I wouldn’t be inclined to say that I would do that. But because I don’t talk to a reporter about whether or not I’m going to strike,” the president said. “I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do with Venezuela, if I was going to do it or if I wasn’t going to do it.”

The Pentagon announced on Oct. 24 that it would deploy the USS Gerald R. Ford, an aircraft carrier, to the Southern Command area of responsibility—which encompasses Central America, South America, and the Caribbean—in support of counter-narcotics operations in the region.

On Oct. 26, the USS Gravely, a Navy guided missile destroyer, arrived in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago to take part in a joint military exercise with the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force until Oct. 30.

Venezuela condemned the USS Gravely’s arrival and suspended its energy cooperation with Trinidad and Tobago. Caracas said Trinidad was engaging in a “military provocation” in coordination with the CIA and alleged that a false flag attack was underway in the waters between Trinidad and Venezuela. A false flag operation is an act carried out with the intent to make it appear as though another party was responsible.

The U.S. military has carried out lethal strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea that U.S. officials said were carrying illegal drugs to the United States.

The most recent strike, conducted on Nov. 1, was at least the 15th such operation since September. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X that three narco-terrorists on board the vessel were killed in the attack.