In a recent interview, Donald Trump boldly dismissed the likelihood of the U.S. entering a full-scale war with Venezuela, but he didn’t hold back in predicting that Nicolás Maduro’s presidency is on shaky ground. When pressed by CBS’s 60 Minutes about the possibility of military conflict, Trump responded, ‘I doubt it. I don’t think so. But they’ve been treating us very badly.’ This statement comes amid ongoing U.S. strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, which the Trump administration defends as crucial to curbing drug trafficking into the U.S. But here’s where it gets controversial: while Trump insists these actions are about combating narcotics, critics argue they’re a thinly veiled attempt to destabilize Maduro’s regime—a long-standing adversary of Trump’s. When confronted with this claim, Trump sidestepped, stating it’s about ‘many things.’
Since early September, at least 64 people have been killed in these U.S. strikes, according to CBS News. Speaking from Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Trump justified the operations, claiming, ‘Every single boat that you see that’s shot down kills 25,000 on drugs and destroys families all over our country.’ And this is the part most people miss: when asked if the U.S. was planning land-based strikes, Trump refused to rule it out, cryptically stating, ‘I’m not gonna tell you what I’m gonna do with Venezuela.’*
Maduro has repeatedly accused the U.S. of ‘fabricating a new war,’ while Colombian President Gustavo Petro has criticized the strikes as a tool for U.S. dominance in Latin America. Trump also doubled down on his hardline immigration stance, declaring the U.S. would ‘not allow’ people ‘from all over the world’ to enter, specifically calling out Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang as ‘the most vicious gang anywhere in the world.’
This interview marked Trump’s first with CBS since he sued its parent company, Paramount, over a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump alleged the interview was edited to favor the Democratic Party, and Paramount settled for $16 million—though the funds were earmarked for Trump’s future presidential library, not paid directly to him. Notably, the settlement included no apology.
Trump’s history with 60 Minutes is rocky; he walked out of a 2020 interview with Lesley Stahl, claiming bias, and declined to appear on the show during the 2024 election. But here’s the real question: Are these strikes truly about drugs, or is the U.S. using them as a pretext to exert influence in Latin America? Let us know your thoughts in the comments—this debate is far from over.
