Published On 23 Dec 2025
United States President Donald Trump has issued a new warning to Nicolas Maduro, saying “it would be smart” for the Venezuelan leader to step down, as Washington escalates a pressure campaign that has drawn sharp rebukes from Russia and China.
Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Trump suggested he was prepared to further ratchet up the tensions after four months of mounting pressure on Caracas.
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When asked if the goal was to force Maduro from power, Trump told reporters: “Well, I think it probably would… That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it’d be smart for him to do that. But again, we’re gonna find out.”
“If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” the US leader added.
Trump levied his latest threat as the US Coast Guard continued for a second day to chase a third oil tanker, which it described as part of a “dark fleet” that Venezuela uses to evade US sanctions.
“It’s moving along, and we’ll end up getting it,” Trump said.
The US president also promised to keep the two ships and the nearly 4 million barrels of Venezuelan oil the coastguard has seized so far.
“Maybe we’ll sell it. Maybe we’ll keep it. Maybe we will use it in the strategic reserves,” he said. “We’re keeping it. We’re keeping the ships also.”
Maduro fires back
For his part, Maduro hit back at Trump’s latest salvo, saying in a speech broadcast on public television that the US president would be better served if he focused on his own country’s problems rather than threatening Caracas.
“He would be better off in his own country on economic and social issues, and he would be better off in the world if he took care of his country’s affairs,” Maduro said.
The campaign against Venezuela’s critical oil sector comes amid a large US military buildup in the region with a stated mission of combating drug trafficking, as well as more than two dozen strikes on alleged drug trafficking vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation.
Critics have questioned the legality of the attacks, which have killed more than 100 people.
Shortly after Trump spoke, the US military said it killed another person in a strike on a “low-profile vessel” suspected of c