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Trump confirms phone conversation with Maduro as tensions escalate

Iran Press TV

Monday, 01 December 2025 11:25 AM

US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he held a phone call last week with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, but declined to provide further details.

"I don't want to comment on that - the answer is yes," Trump told reporters when asked aboard Air Force One -- while he was returning to Washington, DC from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

"I wouldn't say it went well or badly. It was a phone call," Trump said.

"We consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country. They sent millions of people, and a lot of those people shouldn't be in our country—from jails, from gangs, from drug dealers," he said.

Asked whether his recent warning about Venezuelan airspace meant an airstrike is imminent, Trump responded: "Don't read anything into it."

Trump announced on Saturday that Venezuelan airspace would be "completely shut down."

The New York Times reported multiple sources with knowledge of the matter saying the phone call, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, included a discussion about a possible meeting between the two men in the United States.

Caracas has mobilized its defensive forces as the US military has deployed a huge presence in the Caribbean aimed at Venezuela.

Trump administration officials claim the goal of the deployment of forces is to deter drug smuggling, but have also made clear that they want to see "regime change" in Venezuela, and Maduro removed from power.

Trump claimed on Thursday that the US will "very soon" take action against Venezuelan drug traffickers on land following 21 military attacks at sea since September that killed at least 83 people.

Maduro has condemned the repeated US threats of using force against Caracas, asserting that Trump's scheme to gain control over Venezuela's vast oil reserves through military force and psychological warfare is doomed to fail.

Speaking at a coffee event in Caracas on Sunday, he assured Venezuelans that the country is "indestructible, untouchable, and unbeatable."

Venezuela on Sunday sought the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its member countries' support to work together against the US aggression, which aims to seize the country's vast oil reserves.