President Donald Trump issued his most direct threat yet against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, declaring in a newly released Politico interview that the dictator’s “days are numbered” and pointedly refusing to rule out deploying American ground forces to remove him.

The hard-edged warning comes as the Trump administration intensifies its campaign against South American drug trafficking and ramps up military activity around Venezuela.

Asked directly how far he was prepared to go to force Maduro from power, Trump declined to specify any limits.

“I don’t want to say that,” the president told Politico’s Dasha Burns. Pressed again, he responded bluntly: “His days are numbered.”

Trump accused Maduro of allowing members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua and other “drug dealers” to flood the U.S. with narcotics, arguing the Venezuelan regime bears responsibility for thousands of American overdose deaths.

“I want the people of Venezuela to be treated well,” Trump said, noting the strong support he has received from Venezuelan-Americans. “They were treated horribly by Maduro.”

Since Sept. 2, the U.S. military has carried out more than 20 strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 80 people. Trump told Politico that airstrikes on Venezuelan territory would happen “very soon.”

The U.S. has begun assembling an amphibious force in waters near Venezuela. In response, Maduro has mobilized his armed forces and ordered preparations for a guerrilla-style defense should American troops enter Venezuelan territory.

Footage released by the Trump administration shows U.S. Marines conducting live-fire exercises aboard the USS Fort Lauderdale in the Caribbean, signaling readiness for possible offensive operations.

When Burns asked whether he could rule out a ground invasion of Venezuela, Trump refused: “I don’t want to rule in or out. I don’t talk about military strategy.”

The president also indicated he might consider similar kinetic strikes inside Mexico and Colombia, despite longstanding diplomatic sensitivities. While the White House has increasingly blamed Venezuelan gangs for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine into the U.S., a 2019 DEA report found that most fentanyl — the drug driving America’s overdose crisis — is smuggled from Mexico using precursor chemicals from China.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)