If the problem was Mr Maduro sending drugs into the US, how does that square with Mr Trump's pardon of the convicted drug trafficker and former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernnández? Regime change was certainly one of the goals of Mr Trump’s military intervention. Significantly, Mr Trump and his advisers have also been increasingly claiming publicly that Venezuela's unmatched reserves of oil belong to the US. Mr Trump has said that the US will run Venezuela for the foreseeable future until it can install a government it likes. The leaders of Mexico or Colombia, countries Mr Trump has also accused of sending drugs to the US?

Source: The Telegraph January 05, 2026 02:41 UTC