As the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford approaches the Venezuelan coast, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused the US government of “fabricating a new eternal war” against him.
The US deployment of the carrier – the world’s largest warship – follows 11 US strikes , on boats in Venezuelan waters, which the US claims are trafficking drugs and are linked to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang.
Venezuela suspended a significant gas deal with Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday, citing Trinidad and Tobago’s rejection of the island nation’s version of the USS Gravely, another US warship.
So far, the US has not produced any evidence that the Venezuelan boats it has targeted were carrying drugs, and Maduro denies it. He stated last week that “Venezuela is a nation that does not produce cocaine leaves.” Furthermore, experts say that most drugs are smuggled into the US via the Mexican land border – by US citizens.
Venezuela is attracting more and more rumors that Trump may be trying to change the country’s government, but Trump is not the only nation whose domestic affairs or relations with other nations Trump appears to be interested in. The US president has also made comments about, or direct moves towards, the internal affairs of Brazil, India, Israel and Argentina, among others.
What and why is the US doing in the Caribbean?
The US has built up a huge military presence, including nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and elite special operations forces, in the Caribbean. It asserts that this is necessary to safeguard its security and avert a “invasion” by Venezuelan drug gangs.
Trump has said he is considering land attacks and has authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela.
11 boats have been attacked by US forces since September 2, with eight of the attacks claiming to be drug traffickers, with eight of the attacks taking place in the Caribbean. At least 49 people have been killed in the attacks – but the US has not provided any evidence to back its claims.
While the notorious criminal gang Tren de Aragua has been named in response to its accusations of drug trafficking, Tren de Aragua is primarily known for contract killings, extortion, and people smuggling. It is not known for major global drug trafficking operations.
In 2023, the world’s cocaine production reached a record 3,788 tonnes. It mainly originated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Venezuela, which is only a small transit corridor, is where the majority of the US-bound cocaine routes pass through.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported last year that 84 percent of US-seized cocaine comes from Colombia and did not mention Venezuela as a source.
Trump: Does he really want a change in Venezuela’s government?
Maduro has alleged this, but it is an allegation Trump has not responded to.
In a statement from Maduro in September, they are attempting to change the regime through military threats.
“The purpose of US actions is to create legitimacy for an operation to change the regime in Venezuela, with the ultimate goal of taking control of all the country’s resources”, the Maduro government stated again this month.
In a national broadcast on Friday last week, Maduro claimed that they are fabricating an extravagant narrative that is “invading” the US and that Venezuelan drug gangs are “invading” it.
Maduro returned to power last year following a disputed election. The US and some Latin American nations frequently charged him with election fraud. The Carter Center and UN experts reported that the election lacked international standards and transparency.
Since then, the US has not formally recognized Maduro as president or maintained diplomatic relations with Venezuela. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to key opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, who is currently in hiding for fear of arrest.
Additionally, Trump has asserted that Tren de Aragua’s leader is Maduro without providing any supporting evidence.
On October 15 at the White House, reporters questioned Trump on his stance towards Caracas.
Does Maduro belong to the CIA? one journalist asked.
Trump responded, “Oh, I don’t want to respond to that question.” That’s a ridiculous question for me to be given. Wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer, but that’s not really a ridiculous question? But I think Venezuela’s feeling heat”.
Trump’s intentions regarding Venezuela: Why?
Experts say Trump has a number of incentives.
Popularity at home
The first reason is that his actions towards Venezuela are popular with his MAGA support base, who are demanding a crackdown on immigration, drugs and crime.
Salvador Santino Regilme, an associate professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, stated on Al Jazeera that “visible pressure in the Americas helps him claim results on migration, drugs, and crime, which resonates with parts of his coalition in Florida and Texas.”
Heading off Russia and China
Trump might want to say to his supporters that he is disbanding the world’s geopolitical rivals for a second reason.
“Venezuela is a stage to undercut the presence of Russia, Iran, and China in the hemisphere and to reassert a modern version of the Monroe Doctrine”, Regilme said, referring to the US foreign policy doctrine coined by President James Monroe in 1823, which decrees that North and South America should be free from European influence.
A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank revealed that Latin America and the Caribbean were experiencing a rise in China and Russia’s military diplomacy in September of this year. The report states China has hosted frequent high-level defence meetings, such as the China-LAC Defense Forum, and maintained regular bilateral dialogues with senior officials from Brazil, Argentina and others.
China engaged in 97 military exercises between 2022 and 2025 with 18 nations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Russia has also conducted high-level meetings with countries, including Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Negotiating capacity
Third, Trump is building negotiation leverage in Latin America through his aggressive stance towards Venezuela.
According to Regilme, “Sanctions relief and oil licensing are bargaining chips that Washington can exchange for political concessions in Caracas and for neighborly cooperation.”
Control of resources
Venezuela’s energy sources, particularly ultra-heavy crude oil, also play a role in this.
“It holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but much of that is extra-heavy Orinoco crude that requires diluents, upgrading, and major capital to bring to market”, Regilme said.
Venezuela’s oil and gas industry has suffered from years of poor investment and international sanctions, he continued. Despite having a large supply, Venezuela is not a leader in the field, he continued.
“In practice, Washington’s leverage is less about seizing hydrocarbons and more about controlling the regulatory choke points that determine who can invest, ship, insure, and refine Venezuelan barrels. According to Regilme, selective licensing determines the margins of global supply, affects price stability, and sets the conditions for any political concessions in Caracas.
“Energy is therefore a lever inside a broader political strategy, not the singular objective”.
Where else has Trump ingested in domestic affairs?
Regilme said Trump’s foreign policy actions such as his stance towards Venezuela were predictable. He claimed that it continues his transactional, leader-to-leader approach, which combines coercive leverage with public spectacle.
“In office, he has paired tariffs, sanctions, and overt intelligence signalling with personal diplomacy to pressure both allies and adversaries. The strategy is consistent across all three terms: personalize authority, reward ideological friends, punish opponents, and stage toughness for a domestic audience.
Furthermore, his interference in foreign countries has not damaged his popularity back home.
These “high-visibility moves” consistently energize core supporters in places like Florida and some parts of Texas, but they haven’t been successful in gaining support for independents or younger voters unless they cause pocketbook expenses, border visibility issues, or US casualties.
Since he started his second term, Trump has intervened in the domestic affairs of a handful of countries, including:
Bolsonaro case in Brazil
On September 11, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting to stage a coup in order to hold on to power after he lost the country’s 2022 elections to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Close friends, Trump and Bolsonaro, who frequently refers to themselves as the “Trump of the south,” and Trump had a very active interest in the trial. In July, Washington hit Brazilian imports with a 50 percent trade tariff and restricted US visas for Brazilian officials. Trump directly connected the tariffs to his anger over Bolsonaro’s trial, which he deemed a “witch-hunt,” by justifying them in a letter.
In July, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Bolsonaro was “not guilty of anything, except having fought for THE PEOPLE”.
A journalist contacted White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt to inquire whether Trump was considering further action in response to the censorship of US social media sites in Europe and Brazil as well as convictions or crackdowns preventing candidates like Bolsonaro from competing in Brazilian elections on September 9.
Leavitt responded: “The president is unafraid to use the economic might, the military might of the United States of America to protect free speech around the world”.
Russia’s oil
In August, Trump announced an additional 25 percent trade tariff for India – bringing the total to 50 percent for most Indian goods – and linked his decision to India’s continuing purchase of Russian oil, revenues from which are funding the war in Ukraine, he said.
He claimed in a late July post on his Truth Social platform that “Russia is Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing of Ukraine – ALL THINGS NOT GOOD”!
This month, Trump claimed that the pressure had paid off and that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to stop buying oil from Russia. That represents a significant step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing”, Trump told reporters in the White House back then.
India’s imports of Russian energy have significantly increased since the European Union imposed sanctions and a price cap on Russian oil in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
The biggest importer in India of Russian seaborne crude oil is Reliance Industries (RIL), for which Russian crude comprised a mere 3 percent of total crude imports in 2021. According to data from the Finnish-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), that has increased by 50% since the end of the conflict in Ukraine in 2025.
In 2023, 16.8 percent of Russian mineral products such as crude and refined petroleum went to India. $66.1 billion was exported from these countries. India was second only to China, which received $129bn worth, or 32.7 percent of Russian mineral exports.
Israel: Netanyahu’s corruption trial
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged with corruption in three separate cases, including those involving bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, since 2020.
When Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal which aims to end the war in Gaza, Trump was welcomed to the Israeli Knesset and hailed as “the president of peace”.
Trump used the opportunity to lobby on Netanyahu’s behalf while speaking at the Knesset on October 13 and speaking to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. “Mr President, why don’t you give him]Netanyahu] a pardon”?
Argentina: Increasing the economy
Trump has thrown his support behind far-right Argentinian President Javier Milei, who led his party to a landslide victory in Sunday’s legislative elections, earning a strong mandate to push forward with his overhaul of the economy, including free-market reforms and deep austerity measures.
Trump may have had access to Milei’s tools, who on October 1 described her as a “truly fantastic and powerful leader.”
“I’m doing something I don’t often do … I’m giving my full endorsement to him”, Trump told reporters after meeting with Milei on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September.
Following a number of meetings with Argentina in September, the US offered strong support, including the consideration of a $ 20 billion bailout loan and other financial measures to aid in Argentina’s recovery.
Iran: Nuclear programme
Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, three important nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, were hit by the US in June as a result of Israel’s conflict with Iran.
Trump’s rationale for this was that the strikes were part of a strategy to prevent Iran from refining uranium to a weapons-grade level.
Source: Aljazeera
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