Trump Confirms Phone Call With Venezuela’s Maduro but Declines to Reveal Details.
President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he spoke by phone with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, acknowledging the contact to reporters aboard Air Force One but refusing to disclose what the two leaders discussed.
“I don’t want to comment on that,” Trump said when pressed for details.
The acknowledgment follows a New York Times report that the two leaders had spoken in November and had floated the idea of a possible meeting in the United States. The White House has not publicly elaborated on the content, timing, or purpose of the conversation.
The revelation comes amid sharply escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. On Saturday, Trump declared that the airspace over Venezuela and its surrounding region should be considered “closed in its entirety,” a statement Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry quickly condemned as a “colonialist threat.”
The administration has increasingly framed Venezuela as a major hub in hemispheric drug trafficking networks. Trump has repeatedly warned that the United States may take military action to “eradicate” alleged narcotics operations tied to the Maduro government—accusations Caracas firmly denies.
Since early September, U.S. forces have carried out dozens of strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific targeting vessels Washington claims were involved in drug smuggling. Several of the boats have been linked by U.S. officials to Venezuelan criminal groups and drug cartels.
The phone call between Trump and Maduro—rare for two governments that have spent years in open hostility—raises questions about whether Washington is attempting to open a new diplomatic channel even as it intensifies military pressure in the region.
Neither government has signaled whether further communication is expected.
