Trump sends further warnings to Venezuela's Maduro
發佈日期: 2025-12-23 22:09
TVB News
US President Donald Trump delivered a new warning to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as the US Coast Guard stepped up efforts to intercept oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea.
The campaign started with the stated purpose of stemming the flow of
illegal drugs from the South American nation but has
developed into potential armed conflict.
Trump was flanked by his top national security aides, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Responding to a reporter, he said he was ready to further escalate his four-month pressure campaign on Maduro.
"He (Maduro) could do whatever he wants," said Trump. "Maduro? No answer, he could do whatever he wants. We have a massive armada formed, the biggest we've ever had, and by far the biggest we've ever had in South America.
"He could do whatever he wants, it's all right. Whatever he wants to do. If he wants do something, if he plays tough, it'll be the last time he's ever able to play tough."
Trump's latest threat comes as the US Coast Guard chase another sanctioned oil tanker that Trump describes as part of a "dark fleet" Venezuela is using to evade US sanctions.
It is the third tanker pursued by the Coast Guard, which on Saturday seized a Panama-flagged vessel.
In Venezuela, the National Assembly on Monday approved, in its first reading, a bill to criminalise a series of actions that threaten freedom of navigation and trade, calling it an anti-piracy law.
As lawmakers debated the bill, a group of supporters rallied in a motorcade caravan across Caracas.
Some of them drove wearing pirates costumes, a reference to the U.S. government, who they perceive to be committing acts of piracy.
Maduro praised the introduction of an anti-piracy law and aired frustration at U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign policy.
Speaking on Venezuela Government Television, he said Trump should focus on America's domestic problems,
He said the people of America voted for a government that would stop endless wars, stop harassing other countries and stop intervening in foreign affairs.
