Trump says it would be ‘smart’ for Maduro to back down

President Donald Trump is taking his pressure campaign to the next level against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, making clear he doesn’t believe a strongman should lead the country, all while China and Russia are speaking out about the escalating conflict involving their ally.

The Trump administration has launched a series of strikes targeting alleged drug boats off the coast of Latin America in recent months, and this month announced a “total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and exiting Venezuela” as his administration significantly bolstered its naval assets in the region.

While the Trump administration has said these efforts are in line with the administration’s efforts to reduce the flow of drugs into the United States, the campaign also appears to be geared toward removing Maduro from power. This is not Trump’s first attempt to pressure Maduro. He previously imposed sanctions on Venezuela and supported opposition leader Juan Guaido during his first term.

As a result, Trump said on Monday that Washington’s pressure campaign on Venezuela would “probably” be enough to force Maduro to step down and made clear he believed that was something Maduro should do.

US Coast Guard pursues third tanker from ‘Dark Fleet’ as Trump targets Venezuelan sanctions evasion network

“It’s up to him, what he wants to do,” Trump said Monday. “I think it would be smart for him to do that. But again, we’ll find out.”

The White House has historically declined to comment on whether it seeks regime change in Venezuela, though it does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state and insists he is a drug cartel leader.

China and Russia are speaking out about US actions in the region, accusing the US of violating international law after the US seized several oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. The first seizure occurred on December 10, and Trump confirmed on Monday that the United States was still pursuing another oil tanker that a US official told Fox News Digital was “a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion.”

Trump’s oil blockade of Venezuela puts Chevron in the middle of a high-stakes sanctions campaign

US strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuelan waters may be aimed at eliminating Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. (@realDonald Trump/Truth Social; Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

“The US practice of arbitrarily seizing other countries’ ships blatantly violates international law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. Jian said Beijing opposes anything that “violates the sovereignty and security of other countries, and all unilateral actions or bullying.”

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil spoke by phone on Monday, and “the Russian side confirmed its comprehensive support and solidarity with the leaders and people of Venezuela in the current context.”

The statement said, “The ministers expressed their deep concern about Washington’s escalation of its escalatory actions in the Caribbean region, which are fraught with far-reaching consequences for the region and create a threat to international shipping.”

Maduro is stuck with few options for retaliation after the Trump administration’s seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker

Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, previously told Fox News Digital that adversaries like Russia and China are likely to be confused about why the Trump administration is focusing on the Maduro regime. That’s because Caracas does not jeopardize American interests as much as other actors, in addition to the Trump administration’s “America First” slogan, Thompson said.

“I imagine, for them, it’s probably a little bit puzzling if they’re looking at it through a real brass tacks, a realist lens, why is this administration prioritizing the overthrow of the Maduro regime rather than conflicts in other theaters,” Thompson said earlier in December.

The Trump administration has launched nearly 30 strikes in Latin American waters since September as part of its hard-line approach to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

For example, the Trump administration has designated drug cartels such as Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa and others as foreign terrorist organizations and has bolstered its naval assets in the region in recent months, including signing the unprecedented step of sending the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to the region.

In addition to strikes against alleged drug vessels, Trump has suggested for months that strikes on land could be the next step.

A US military drone has struck a submarine allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean. (Credit: President Donald Trump via Social Truth)

“We’re destroying drug boats now at a level we’ve never seen before,” Trump said on December 3. “And very soon we’ll start doing it on the ground, too.”

Although the Trump administration said it had the authority to carry out these attacks against alleged drug boats, Democrats and some Republicans have questioned the legality of the strikes.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, introduced a war powers resolution this month to prevent Trump from using U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities in or against Venezuela.

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.