President Donald Trump left the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table in an interview published Friday, after escalating the US pressure campaign on Caracas with an oil blockade.
“I don’t rule it out, no,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview on Thursday.
Trump also declined to say whether he wants to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Authoritarian leftist Maduro says Washington wants regime change in Caracas.
“He knows exactly what I want,” Trump replied. “He knows better than anybody.”
Trump said there would be further seizures of oil tankers, after US forces last week took control of an oil tanker leaving the South American nation.
Trump has left the world guessing about exactly what his ultimate aims are on Venezuela, after dramatically building up the US military presence in the Caribbean in recent months.
The US president has accused Maduro of running a “narco-terrorist” cartel and American forces have carried out numerous strikes on alleged drug boats since September, killing more than 100 people.
Trump has also been saying for weeks that he will start land strikes “soon” against drug traffickers.
But Trump this week turned his emphasis towards Venezuela’s oil, of which it has the world’s largest proven reserves.
Trump also accused Venezuela of “taking” US oil, apparently referring to the nationalization of the country’s oil industry, as he announced the blockade on sanctioned oil tankers.
“They took all of our energy rights, they took all of our oil, from not that long ago, and we want it back,” Trump said on Wednesday.
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