The US president says he intends to expand his crackdown on drug cartels

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he has authorized CIA operations on Venezuelan soil.

The New York Times earlier reported that the decision would allow intelligence operatives to carry out lethal operations against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose government Trump has accused of running “narco-terrorist” cartels and flooding the US with cocaine and fentanyl.

A reporter asked Trump in the Oval Office, “Why did you authorize the CIA to go into Venezuela?”

“I authorized for two reasons, really,” Trump replied. “Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.”

“And the other thing is the drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we’re going to stop them by land also,” he added.

Trump declined to clarify whether the CIA is authorized to “take out Maduro.”

“I don’t want to answer a question like that. Wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?” he said.

Trump confirms that he authorized the CIA to enter Venezuela and says that now the US will "go" by land:

"I authorized it for two reasons: first, they emptied their prisons and sent us criminals (…) The other is drugs. A lot of drugs come by sea. But now we're going to focus on… pic.twitter.com/fMPxs9TDkC

— Rogelio Maldonado (@M20Roge) October 15, 2025

Trump imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela during his first term and has recently raised the bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million. The US has deployed a naval armada to the eastern Caribbean, and since September has destroyed at least five boats allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela.

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Maduro has denied the allegations of aiding cartels and accused the US of seeking to topple him, adding that the Venezuelan military is ready to repel a potential invasion.