Trump says Venezuela leader’s days are 'numbered'

U.S. President Donald Trump said he does not believe the United States is going to war with Venezuela despite growing tensions, though he suggested President Nicolás Maduro’s time in power may be nearing its end.

Speaking in an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Trump was asked about recent U.S. actions in the Caribbean, including strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels and the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the region.

"Are we going to war against Venezuela?" host Norah O’Donnell asked. 

"I doubt it. I don’t think so," Trump replied. 

"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, people from prisons — they emptied their prisons into our country," he added.

When pressed on whether his administration’s actions were about drug trafficking or removing Maduro, Trump said they involved "many things." Asked if Maduro’s days were numbered, he responded, "I would say yeah. I think so, yeah."

The Pentagon last week confirmed it was sending the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and its carrier air wing to the Caribbean. At the same time, the Trump administration has carried out multiple strikes on boats it says were smuggling narcotics from the region, resulting in dozens of deaths.

Two U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers also flew near Venezuela’s coast last week, according to flight-tracking data. Trump dismissed reports about their presence as "false," but added, "We’re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons — drugs being one of them."

Trump also pushed back on speculation that he was planning strikes on Venezuelan military facilities, though he noted he would not publicly reveal such a decision before it happened.

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