During the first presidency of Donald Trump, the possibility of a United States–led invasion of Venezuela was discussed. In 2017, Trump said that he was “not going to rule out a military option” to address the worsening crisis in Venezuela and the autocratic regime of Nicolás Maduro. Trump also had asked senior advisors about invading Venezuela, which was strongly recommended against by National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, and the Trump administration instead opted for a campaign of sanctions and diplomatic pressure against Venezuela.

During the second Trump presidency, the United States surged military assets to the Caribbean in August 2025, citing the fight against drug cartels as its stated objective. Experts, analysts and current and former government officials stated that that the assets deployed were insufficient for an invasion and they viewed an invasion as unlikely.

First Trump presidency (2017–2021)

According to the Associated Press, within the framework of the crisis in Venezuela, unnamed administration officials stated that an intervention was raised in 2017 to Donald Trump‘s advisors, including US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security advisor H. R. McMaster (who left the Trump administration from that moment on) and later to several presidents of Latin American countries including Juan Manuel Santos.^[1] Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, declared in May 2023 that Trump had made a proposal to then-president Iván Duque to invade Venezuela through Colombia, but that his advisors had stopped him.^[2] On both occasions, everyone present asked Trump not to proceed with the plan.^[1]

On the possibility of intervention in Venezuela during the Venezuelan presidential crisis, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Kimberly Breier said: “Although our policy is based on a peaceful transition, we have made it very clear that all options are on the table.”^[3] John Bolton, National Security advisor at the time, published in a 2020 book, The Room Where It Happened, that Trump said that invading Venezuela would be “cool” because it is “really part of the United States”.^[4] In June 2023, Trump said at a press conference in North Carolina, “When I left, Venezuela was about to collapse. We would have taken over it, we would have kept all that oil.”^[5]

Trump stated on 11 August 2017 that he is “not going to rule out a military option” to confront the autocratic government of Nicolás Maduro and the deepening crisis in Venezuela.^[6] CNN wrote in July 2018 that a senior administration official stated that, in an August 2017 meeting about imposing diplomatic and financial sanctions on Venezuela, Trump asked senior advisers about the possibility of invading Venezuela. Then-National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster and other aides strongly advised against military action, warning that it could backfire and that regional allies opposed such measures. The official emphasized that there was “no imminent plan” for an invasion, describing Trump’s remarks as thinking “out loud”. Trump’s comments were first reported by the Associated Press and came a day before he publicly stated that a “military option” against Venezuela remained possible.^[7]

An Argentine online paper wrote in August 2020 that Senator Marco Rubio had suggested a U.S. invasion of Venezuela during at least two meetings with senior White House officials, aiming to secure President Trump’s Latino vote in Florida ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opposed the proposal, rejecting the use of military force. This disagreement was among the reasons Bolton resigned as National Security Advisor.^[8]

Trump raised the issue with Latin American leaders on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, though they uniformly rejected the idea. The Trump administration subsequently pursued a policy of sanctions and diplomatic pressure on Venezuela while continuing to call for free and fair elections.^[7]

One week after U.S. federal prosecutors indicted Maduro on narcoterrorism charges, Trump announced at a White House press conference in April 2020 that the U.S. was deploying Navy destroyers, surveillance aircraft, and additional military personnel to the Caribbean near Venezuela; the Associated Press reported that there was “no indication … that any sort of U.S. invasion is being planned”.^[9]

Trump said on Fox News in May 2020 that “If we ever did anything with Venezuela”, in that case, “it would be called ‘invasion‘”, explaining: “if I wanted to go into Venezuela I wouldn’t make a secret about it”, and “I wouldn’t send a small, little group, no, no, no. It would be called an army”.^[10]

Second Trump presidency (2025–present)

Further information: 2025 United States naval deployment in the Caribbean and 2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers

The US began deploying naval assets to the Caribbean in August 2025 with the stated goal of opposing drug cartels; the Associated Press reported that the “U.S. government has not signaled any planned land incursion from the thousands of personnel being deployed, and analysts and current and former government officials see no possibility of an invasion in Venezuela”.^[11][12] Maduro responded to the deployment by mobilizing over four million soldiers of the Bolivarian Militia across Venezuela,^[12] while saying that the country was at “maximum preparedness” for a possible American attack.^[13]

CNN reported in September 2025 that Trump was considering a range of options for military strikes against drug cartels operating on Venezuelan soil, including potential targets inside the country, as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening Maduro, according to multiple sources briefed on the administration’s plans.^[14]