U.S. President Donald Trump waits for the arrival of Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese at the White House on Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
As a result, Trump said on Monday that Washington’s pressure campaign against Venezuela would "probably" be sufficient to coerce Maduro to step down — and made it clear he believes that’s something Maduro should be doing.
"That’s up to him, what he wants to do," Trump said on Monday. "I think it would be smart for him to do that. But again, we’re going to find out."
The White House has historically refused to comment on whether it is pursuing a regime change in Venezuela — even though it does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and insists he is the leader of a drug cartel.
Meanwhile, China and Russia are speaking out about U.S. actions in the region — accusing the U.S. of breaking international law after the U.S. seized multiple oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. The first seizure occurred on Dec. 10, and Trump confirmed on Monday that the U.S. is still pursuing another oil tanker that a U.S. official told Fox News Digital is a "sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion."
TRUMP’S VENEZUELA OIL BLOCKADE PUTS CHEVRON IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGH-STAKES SANCTIONS CRACKDOWN
A U.S. military drone strikes a drug-carrying submersible in the Caribbean. (Credit: President Donald Trump via Truth Social)
"We’re knocking out drug boats right now at a level that we haven’t seen," Trump said Dec. 3. "Very soon we’re going to start doing it on land too."
Although the Trump administration has said that it has the authority to conduct these attacks against alleged drug boats, Democrats and some Republicans have questioned the legality of the strikes.
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For example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a war powers resolution this month to bar Trump from using U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela.
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-casts-maduros-ouster-smart-move-russia-china-enter-fray