President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that he hasn’t ruled out the prospect of military conflict with Venezuela.
“I don’t rule it out, no,” he revealed to NBC News during a telephone interview. Trump earlier this week imposed a “blockade” on sanctioned oil vessels travelling to and from Venezuela, ramping up the pressure on the nation’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. The US has also recently confiscated an oil tanker seized near Venezuelan waters.
The administration’s offensive has already led to 28 maritime strikes resulting in over 100 fatalities, including a controversial “double tap” attack now under parliamentary investigation. During his telephone conversation, Trump stated “I don’t discuss it” when questioned about whether such measures might trigger warfare.
(Image: Patrick Smith, Getty Images)
However, when pushed further, he acknowledged it remained a possibility and indicated more oil tanker seizures were forthcoming. When asked for a timeframe, Trump responded: “It depends. If they’re foolish enough to be sailing along, they’ll be sailing along back into one of our harbours.”
Trump also refused to confirm whether removing Maduro was his endgame.
“He knows exactly what I want,” Trump answered. “He knows better than anybody.”
Trump’s acknowledgement that he’s not dismissing war with Venezuela carries considerable weight. He has consistently sought to distance himself from the hawkish faction of the Republican Party, and during 2024, he ran on a platform of keeping America out of international disputes.
In his victory speech, Trump declared he was “not going to start a war; I’m going to stop wars.”
The administration has asserted that the strikes have targeted supposed drug boats and that Venezuela is utilising oil revenue to fund “drug terrorism.”
It comes after the US President delivered one of his characteristic addresses from the White House – because as usual, it made very little sense.
On December 17, the Orange Man-baby boasted about the influence he’s wielded during his second term in office. Throughout the 18-minute presentation, he addressed a broad spectrum of subjects he’d concentrated on in 2025 – discussing everything from salaries and jobs to military strength and attempts to tackle unlawful immigration.
He also triumphantly celebrated securing agreements with firms including Pfizer and AstraZeneca to reduce costs on certain medications sold in the US to rates similar to other countries, claiming this would generate savings for millions of Americans.
However, all that fake tan seems to have seeped into his brain as he ended up fluffing his figures. Trump asserted they would cut drug and pharmaceutical prices by up to 600 per cent.
If this were accurate, it would suggest pharmaceutical firms were compensating customers for utilising their products. That’s because greatest amount by which anything can be decreased is 100 per cent of its present value at any particular moment. D’oh!