Laura Gamba Fadul
19 November 2025•Update: 19 November 2025
BOGOTA, Colombia
Venezuela’s president warned that any American military intervention in his country would be the “political end” of the leadership of his US counterpart Donald Trump.
In a televised appearance Monday, Nicolas Maduro claimed that circles around Trump are “provoking” an armed action that, according to him, would lead Trump “to a cliff.”
He said that there was "an effort by powerful sectors in the US to destroy Trump" using Venezuela.
"They want President Trump to make the most serious mistake of his entire life and set himself militarily against Venezuela, which would be the political end of his leadership and name, and he is being pressured and provoked,” Maduro said.
This "provocation,” he continued, "comes from his adversaries and known enemies ... but also from people around him that are making calculations over the post-Trump era and it doesn't matter if they cause him harm.”
Maduro said that he had no knowledge of who those enemies could be, and admitted that "if he knew, he wouldn’t say who it was."
The president also said Venezuela is ready for “face-to-face” dialogue with Washington, reiterating that diplomacy and the search for "communal points" continue to be the "invariable" position of his government.
Maduro said it has been "16 weeks of threats, of psychological aggression and of stalking,” which has "awakened a Bolivarian National Armed Force revitalized and deployed, a Bolivarian Militia expanded and better trained, and a community that, with serenity, assumes its plans and supports its military.”
Trump said on Sunday that "there could be discussions" with Maduro, "because Venezuela wants to talk,” though he later indicated that a determination had been made on what measures to take in relation to the Caribbean country, without giving more details.
On Sunday, the US State Department announced that it will designate, as of Nov. 24, as a foreign terrorist organization the Cartel de los Soles, a group that Washington links to Maduro. Venezuela has dismissed the statement as "an invention."
Tensions between the US and Venezuela have been on the rise since Trump this August ordered a military deployment in the Caribbean with the aim of attacking drug cartels and stopping drug trafficking routes, which are linked to Maduro.
Caracas maintains that what is being sought is a change of regime. Since then, the US military has carried out a total of 21 strikes on vessels it claimed were loaded with drugs, and killed 83 people, and Trump has signaled he could attack alleged drug trafficking targets on the ground in Venezuela.
