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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. is preparing to take its campaign against narcoterrorism directly “on land” inside Venezuela, warning that the Nicolás Maduro regime has already sent “killers, murderers… gang members” and other violent offenders into the U.S. during past years of mass migration.
Speaking in the Oval Office during a Q&A session with reporters, Trump said U.S. forces are escalating operations against the trafficking networks behind the synthetic opioids and narcotics he blames for hundreds of thousands of American deaths.
“We’re knocking out drug boats right now at a level that we haven’t seen,” Trump said. “Very soon we’re going to start doing it on land too.”
The president said American intelligence agencies have mapped the routes, safehouses and production sites used by narcotics manufacturers operating inside Venezuela.
TRUMP SAYS US WILL BEGIN STOPPING VENEZUELAN DRUG TRAFFICKERS BY LAND: ‘GOING TO START VERY SOON’
President Trump suggested land operations in Venezuela may begin “very soon” in the Oval Office on Wednesday. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We know every route. We know every house. We know where they manufacture this crap,” he said. “The poison… they’ve been feeding us.”
Trump has repeatedly accused the Maduro government of weaponizing migration. On Wednesday, he repeated his claim that Venezuela “sent us killers, murderers… drug dealers at the highest level… gang members, and people from their mental institutions,” alleging the country had “emptied their prisons into our country.”
He argued that this occurred because the U.S. had previously been run by “stupid people… really stupid people.”
TRUMP ENDS VENEZUELA TALKS, MILITARY OPTIONS LOOM, NEW REPORT
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro waves to crowds outside the country’s National Assembly. (Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump tied the potential escalation to the fentanyl and synthetic opioid crisis, saying traffickers have “been killing our people by the millions,” and adding, “I think last year we lost close to 300,000 people.” He said American families devastated by overdoses were demanding a more aggressive response after years of “poison” entering the country through transnational networks.
Trump also confirmed he had spoken only “briefly” with President Maduro and told him “a couple of things,” adding, “We’ll see what happens with that.” But he emphasized that the pressure campaign currently underway extends beyond diplomacy.
US military drone strike an alleged drug-carrying submersible in the Caribbean on Thursday. (Credit: President Donald Trump via Truth Social)
Trump also defended the decision to strike drug-smuggling vessels and suggested the same standard applied to operators of land-based narcotics hubs.
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“I support the decision to knock out the boats,” he said. “Whoever is piloting those boats, they’re guilty of trying to kill people in our country.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
