Trump confirms phone call with Venezuela’s Maduro amid tensions

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he held a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but declined to provide details about the conversation.

"I don't want to comment on it. The answer is yes," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington, DC from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he spent Thanksgiving.

"I can't do that," he said, when asked to describe the call, adding: "I wouldn't say it went well or badly."

The New York Times reported Friday that the leaders spoke by phone last week and discussed a possible meeting, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

"We consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country. They sent millions of people, and a lot of those people shouldn't be in our country—from jails, from gangs, from drug dealers," he said.

Asked whether his recent warning about Venezuelan airspace meant an airstrike is imminent, Trump responded: "Don't read anything into it."

The confirmation comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, with Trump recently declaring that Venezuelan airspace would be "completely shut down."

Venezuela criticized the statement and demanded “unconditional respect” for its airspace.

Trump's remarks came following months of expanding US military operations across Latin America, deploying Marines, warships, fighter and bomber jets, submarines and drones amid speculation that Washington could launch an attack on Venezuela.

He announced Thursday that the US will "very soon" take action against Venezuelan drug traffickers on land following 21 military attacks at sea since September that killed at least 83 people.

Venezuela on Sunday sought the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its member countries' support to work together against the US "aggression" following Maduro's claims of a US threat to seize the country's vast oil reserves through “military force.”