{"id":172149,"date":"2025-11-17T09:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-us-may-have-discussions-with-maduro-as-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-caribbean-abcnews-go-com\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T09:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:01:07","slug":"trump-says-us-may-have-discussions-with-maduro-as-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-caribbean-abcnews-go-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-us-may-have-discussions-with-maduro-as-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-caribbean-abcnews-go-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says US may have discussions with Maduro as aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean – abcnews.go.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump says the U.S. \u201cmay be having some discussions\u201d with Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/span>
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — <\/span>President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. \u201cmay be having some discussions\u201d with Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier<\/a>.
Trump didn't offer details about the possible discussions with Maduro, but he said \u201cVenezuela would like to talk."
The U.S. military has been carrying out a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs<\/a>. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford<\/a> and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment in what the administration insists is a counterdrug operation<\/a> but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against Maduro<\/a>.
When asked Sunday what he meant when he said Maduro wants to talk, Trump simply said: \u201cWhat does it mean? You tell me, I don\u2019t know.\u201d
\u201cI\u2019ll talk to anybody," he added a few moments later. "We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d
Venezuela\u2019s government didn\u2019t immediately reply to a request for comment. Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has said the U.S. government is \u201cfabricating\u201d a war against him.
The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower<\/a> in the region in generations. With its arrival, the \u201cOperation Southern Spear" mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
The carrier\u2019s arrival coincided with the military announcing its latest deadly strike on a small boat it claims was ferrying illegal drugs. The military\u2019s Southern Command posted a video on X on Sunday showing the boat being blown up, an attack it said took place Saturday in international waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and killed three men. The military did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Since early September, such strikes by the U.S. in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 83 people in 21 attacks<\/a>.
The carrier strike group, which includes squadrons of fighter jets and guided-missile destroyers, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the Navy said.
Rear Adm. Paul Lanzilotta, who commands the strike group, said it will bolster an already large force of American warships to "protect our nation\u2019s security and prosperity against narco-terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.\u201d
Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversees the Caribbean and Latin America, said in a statement that the American forces \u201cstand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region.\u201d
Holsey, who will retire next month<\/a> after just a year on the job, said the strike group's deployment is "a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American Homeland.\u201d
In Trinidad and Tobago, which is only 7 miles from Venezuela at its closest point, government officials said troops have begun \u201ctraining exercises\u201d with the U.S. military that will run through much of the week.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sean Sobers described the joint exercises as the second in less than a month and said they are aimed at tackling violent crime on the island nation, which has become a stopover point for drug shipments headed to Europe and North America. The prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the U.S. military strikes.
The exercises will include Marines from the 22nd Expeditionary Unit who have been stationed aboard the Navy ships that have been looming off Venezuela's coast for months.
Venezuela\u2019s government has described the training exercises as an act of aggression. It had no immediate comment Sunday on the arrival of the aircraft carrier.
Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said Sunday that U.S. troops have been training in Panama, underscoring the administration\u2019s increasing focus on Latin America.
\u201cWe\u2019re reactivating our jungle school in Panama. We would be ready to act on whatever\u201d Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth needed, he told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation."
The administration has insisted that the buildup of American forces in the region is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were \u201cnarcoterrorists.\u201d Trump has indicated military action would expand beyond strikes by sea<\/a>, saying the U.S. would "stop the drugs coming in by land.\u201d
On Friday, Trump was asked by reporters if he had made up his mind on what he intended to do about Venezuela. He did not offer details but said, \u201cI sort of have made up my mind."
The U.S. has long used aircraft carriers<\/a> to pressure and deter aggression by other nations because their warplanes can strike targets deep inside another country. Some experts say the Ford is ill-suited to fighting cartels, but it could be an effective instrument of intimidation<\/a> for Maduro<\/a> in a push to get him to step down.
Venezuela\u2019s government recently touted a \u201cmassive\u201d mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks. Maduro and other officials in Venezuela\u2019s socialist party also have been attending rallies this weekend to back the creation of neighborhood committees that will be in charge of increasing membership in Venezuela\u2019s socialist party, and promoting the party\u2019s policies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States does not recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year\u2019s election<\/a>, as Venezuela\u2019s legitimate leader. Rubio has called Venezuela's government a \u201ctransshipment organization\u201d that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs.
Rubio said in a statement released Sunday evening that the State Department intends to designate Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, a foreign terrorist organization. Rubio said the cartel is headed by Maduro and other high-ranking members of his government and is among those \u201cresponsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.\u201d When the designation takes effect on Nov. 24, it will be a crime to provide \u201cmaterial support\u201d to the cartel or its members.
Trump has justified the attacks on drug boats by saying the U.S. is in \u201carmed conflict\u201d with drug cartels<\/a> while claiming the boats are operated by foreign terrorist organizations<\/a>.
He has faced pushback from leaders in the region<\/a>, the U.N. human rights chief<\/a> and U.S. lawmakers, including Republicans, who have pressed for more information on who is being targeted<\/a> and the legal justification for the boat strikes.
Senate Republicans, however, recently voted to reject legislation that would have put a check<\/a> on Trump\u2019s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.
Experts disagree on whether or not American warplanes may be used to strike land targets inside Venezuela. Either way, the 100,000-ton warship is sending a message.
\u201cThis is the anchor of what it means to have U.S. military power once again in Latin America,\u201d said Elizabeth Dickinson, the International Crisis Group\u2019s senior analyst for the Andes region. \u201cAnd it has raised a lot of anxieties in Venezuela but also throughout the region. I think everyone is watching this with sort of bated breath to see just how willing the U.S. is to really use military force.\u201d
___
Finley reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Anselm Gibbs in Port of Spain, Trinidad,, Gabriela Molina in Caracas, Venezuela, and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump says the U.S. \u201cmay be having some discussions\u201d with Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s MaduroWEST PALM BEACH, Florida — President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. \u201cmay be having some discussions\u201d with Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}