But with Maduro still sitting tight, Trump’s options seem to be narrowing rapidly. President Trump retains all options to keep Americans safe.”Airstrikes on land, which U.S. officials have said would probably target isolated encampments associated with cocaine trafficking or selected military assets and installations, are “going to start” happening, Trump said last week. “You cannot allow this man to remain standing after this show of force,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said of Trump’s Caribbean deployment of 15,000 troops and dozens of warships and aircraft. Trump’s fixation on Venezuela melds a number of his own domestic political aims and the priorities of senior officials around him. It had come from Venezuela, Trump said without providing evidence, and was carrying “bags” of fentanyl and cocaine for Tren de Aragua.

Source: Washington Post December 21, 2025 11:03 UTC