Top White House officials reportedly want President Donald Trump to bring about the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The development comes as the White House grapples with drug cartels smuggling narcotics from Venezuela to the United States.
From The New York Times:
The push by top aides to President Trump to remove Nicolás Maduro as the leader of Venezuela has intensified in recent days, with administration officials discussing a broad campaign that would escalate military pressure to try to force him out, U.S. officials say.
It is being led by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser. Mr. Rubio argues that Mr. Maduro is an illegitimate leader who oversees the export of drugs to the United States, which he says poses an “imminent threat.”
In recent weeks, the U.S. military has launched lethal attacks on civilian boats that the administration said were smuggling drugs for Venezuelan gangs. But Mr. Rubio is shaping a more aggressive strategy, using intelligence provided by the C.I.A., the officials said. The Pentagon has built up a force of more than 6,500 troops in the region.
The agency’s director, John Ratcliffe, and Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser, both support Mr. Rubio’s approach, the officials added.
The U.S. military has been planning potential military operations targeting drug trafficking suspects in Venezuela itself as a next phase, although the White House has not yet approved such a step, current and former officials say.
Those operations would be aimed at interfering with drug production and trafficking in Venezuela as well as tightening a vise around Mr. Maduro.
Marco Rubio, backed by CIA Director Ratcliffe and chief domestic policy adviser Stephen Miller, is pressing President Trump to oust Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, deemed an “illegitimate ruler overseeing drug exports that threaten the U.S.,” per NYT.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 29, 2025
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The administration has intensified its broader counternarcotics strategy against Venezuela. Rubio has called Maduro a “fugitive from American justice” and accused him of heading up “a terrorist organization and organized crime organization that have taken over a country.”
Trump recently signed an executive order allowing military action against drug cartels. The administration has sent naval forces near Venezuela to stop cartel boats from getting drugs into the United States. The president warned, “Maduro must stop sending drugs and criminals to our country.”
Venezuelan opposition leaders are gearing up for a post-Maduro transition, according to The New York Times. One White House adviser said, “It has to be done with the use of force, because otherwise it wouldn’t be possible to defeat a regime like the one we’re facing.”
The plan is to transfer power to Edmundo González, who was exiled after he won the 2024 election, which was “marred by fraud.”
However, there are White House officials who oppose military intervention, including Richard Grenell, the president’s envoy to Venezuela.
NBC News reported this past weekend that the Trump administration is actively considering launching military strikes inside Venezuela’s borders to target cartel operatives and infrastructure.
President Trump has not yet approved military strikes. But the military is ready to act when given the word, according to NBC News. It has ramped up its presence in the Caribbean, deploying at least eight warships, over 4,000 personnel, and fighter jets.