The White House reported that US President Donald Trump will discuss on Monday (01/12/2025) with his advisors the next steps related to Venezuela, amid Washington’s large-scale military deployment in the Caribbean and its increasing pressure on Caracas.
Administration spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt said when asked about the meeting, “I confirm that the president will meet with his national security team to discuss this issue (Venezuela) and many other issues.”
Levitt did not want to go into detail about the topics to be discussed, and instead suggested that this would be a routine meeting. He added that Trump “meets with the national security team frequently. He is the commander in chief.”
According to press reports, the meeting will be held in the Oval Office of the White House, which is expected to be attended by senior officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kaine.
The meeting comes a day after the US President confirmed that he had a phone call with Venezuelan Governor Nicolas Maduro, who did not mention the issue.
Final decision
Levitt did not answer whether Trump had made a final decision regarding possible American intervention, refused to rule out the possibility of deploying American forces on Venezuelan territory, and kept the White House ambiguous about the matter. He said: “There are options available to the president, and I will let him talk about them.”
The United States mobilized the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, along with other warships, fighter aircraft, and thousands of troops. He stressed that this deployment comes within the framework of operations to combat drug trafficking, despite Maduro’s assertion that the goal is to overthrow him.
Monday’s meeting between Trump and his advisers also coincides with increased scrutiny in Congress over the legality of US attacks on alleged drug smuggling ships.
Bipartisan committees are taking the first steps to investigate whether Secretary of War Hegseth committed alleged war crimes by ordering a second deadly attack to wipe out survivors of a Venezuelan boat in Caribbean waters, The Washington Post reports.
Hegseth described the information as false, and Trump defended the Secretary of War, stressing that he believed his story.
JC (AFP, EFI)