Trump Warns Maduro Not to Play ‘Tough’ But Won’t Threaten Ouster

President Donald Trump warned President Nicolas Maduro not to challenge the US and vowed to keep oil seized from a supertanker but declined to say if he’s seeking to oust the Venezuelan leader.

“He can do whatever he wants to do, whatever he wants to do, if he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” Trump told reporters at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday evening. Asked if he would try to push Maduro out, he responded, “That’s up to him.”

Trump’s tone, while hardly conciliatory, contrasted with that of other members of his administration. Earlier Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News’s Fox & Friends that Maduro “needs to be gone.” Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Maduro’s cooperation with narco-traffickers and terrorists “intolerable” — though he also wouldn’t say if regime change was the goal.

Trump spoke after the US stepped up its blockade of tankers going to and from Venezuela over the weekend, boarding a non-sanctioned ship owned by a Hong Kong-based entity on Saturday and pursuing a third oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Another very large crude carrier, the Skipper, was intercepted on Dec. 10.

On Monday, Maduro also appeared to strike a more moderate tone, saying Venezuela would honor its contracts with Chevron Corp. despite what he called “temporary, circumstantial conflicts” with the US.

The US campaign has also involved deadly strikes against alleged drug-trafficking vessels. Later Monday, Venezuela’s foreign minister appeared on state television to read a statement from Maduro in which the president described the “theft” of two vessels as “aggression,” and called for an end to what he described as “acts of piracy.”

The US Coast Guard, which falls under Noem’s jurisdiction, has overseen the tanker stops, while the Defense Department’s US Southern Command has coordinated the buildup of military forces near Venezuela and the strikes against purported trafficking boats that have killed more than 90 people since early September.

Trump administration officials have cited multiple rationales for the inter-agency effort, including stemming the flow of deadly fentanyl into the US — though experts say the routes and vessels targeted were more likely trafficking cocaine — as well as pushing out Maduro and restoring US assets expropriated decades ago.

The administration has accused Maduro of heading a drug-trafficking organization, Cartel de los Soles, that includes senior Venezuelan government officials and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US government.

Trump has repeatedly said he would employ land attacks to stop drug traffickers, leading to speculation that he’s preparing to strike Venezuela.

The Trump administration’s military deployment in the Caribbean is the largest in the region in decades — and marks the most concerted attempt to hit Venezuela’s crucial economic lifeline. The country exports roughly 900,000 barrels of oil a day — about 30% of which move through a shadow fleet similar to the tankers targeted by the Trump administration.

Proceeds from the oil industry provide the nation’s struggling economy with much-needed hard currency, and the government’s supply of dollars has already fallen 30% in the first 10 months of 2025. In turn, Venezuela’s exchange rate is under pressure.