Trump Says Maduro’s “Days Are Numbered” as Admin Prepares “Day After” Plans

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying in an interview on Tuesday that Maduro’s “days are numbered” and refusing to rule out a ground invasion of the country.

Speaking to Politico, Trump said “I don’t comment on that” when asked if the U.S. would soon strike Venezuela, or if the U.S. would send troops on the ground. He went on to repeat unverified claims that Maduro is involved with Tren de Aragua, while ranting about President Joe Biden’s “low IQ” and immigration policy.

The interviewer, Dasha Burns, then asked: “How far would you go to take Maduro out of office? [Do] you want to see him out?”

“His days are numbered,” Trump said.

“Can you rule out an American ground invasion?” Burns responded.

“I don’t want to rule in or out. I don’t talk about it. Why would I talk to you, an extremely unfriendly publication, if you want to call it, Politico, that got $8 million from [Barack] Obama to keep it afloat?,” he went on, seemingly referring to subscriptions to Politico’s subscription news service that the government cancelled earlier this year under Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” cuts.

He went on to say that he is “the most transparent politician, maybe in the world,” but said “I don’t want to talk to you about military strategy.”

Trump has demurred on his administration’s plans for Venezuela for weeks while escalating his rhetoric. Last week, he said that the U.S. would “very soon” start striking on land in Venezuela, saying, “you know, the land is much easier, much easier.”

The interview comes as CNN reports, citing administration officials, that the Trump administration is reportedly preparing “day-after” plans regarding the overthrow of Maduro. They range from scenarios in which Maduro “voluntarily leaves” or is ousted through a military coup by the U.S., through strikes on the country.

The sources said that they are drawing up the plans in order to be prepared for scenarios “that may or may not unfold.”

However, the plans are being discussed at high levels, with meetings held by the Stephen Miller-led White House Homeland Security Council on the subject and officials working closely with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. These comments may also be an attempt to deflect attention from what analysts and lawmakers say is clearly a campaign for regime change led by the Trump administration.

Experts have warned that pursuing regime change in Venezuela would be disastrous for U.S. foreign and military policy, leading to blowback in the U.S. and likely the deaths of many across the region, judging based on prior U.S. intervention in Latin America.

Nonetheless, the U.S. continues to escalate hostilities against Venezuela. Last week, amidst the scandal surrounding the double-tap strike in the military’s initial boat strike, the U.S. military struck yet another vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four people, officials said. This brought the total publicly announced death toll to 87 people.

Further, reports found that the two U.S. fighter jets entered and circled over Venezuelan airspace around noon on Tuesday, as flight tracking websites showed. The jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela, between the two key oil states of Zulia and Falcon, for 40 minutes before leaving.

Last week, Trump declared that he had unilaterally ordered the airspace above Venezuela to be “closed,” a declaration he has no authority to issue.