&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Ridiculous question’: Trump dodges question on whether he ordered CIA to 'take out' Maduro")
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he had authorised covert CIA operations against Venezuela but dodged questions on whether he had green-lighted an attempt on the nation's leader, Nicolás Maduro. Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump framed his actions as part of a broader anti-drug campaign, citing Maduro’s alleged role as the leader of a "narco-terrorist" regime and releasing prisoners who make their way to the United States.
Has Trump given the CIA an order to "take out" Maduro?
When pressed directly on the explosive question of whether he had secretly given the CIA authority to “take out” Maduro, Trump sidestepped and labelled the query "ridiculous".
"That's a ridiculous question for me to be given. Not really a ridiculous question, but wouldn't it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?" he said, offering no clear confirmation. However, his dodge has raised eyebrows on whether a covert CIA operation was going to do exactly that.
Also read | ‘I don’t want to destroy his political career’: Trump makes bizarre remark about PM Modi
After international waters, US to strike Venezuelan land targets?
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Just a day after he announced yet another US strike on an alleged boat in the Caribbean — the latest in a series of naval strikes — Trump, on Wednesday, indicated the US may expand its operations against alleged Venezuelan drug cartels onto land. "We are certainly looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control." US strikes on suspected drug vessels have so far killed at least 27 people. Legal experts have questioned the legality of using lethal force in international waters against targets who have not been apprehended or interrogated.
Maduro slams Trump's "coups d'etat" attempt
The US president’s comments drew a sharp reaction from Maduro, who decried US operations as “coups d’etat orchestrated by the CIA” and ordered military exercises across Venezuela, including shantytowns and coastal areas. "No to war in the Caribbean...No to regime change...No to coups d'etat orchestrated by the CIA," he said. The Venezuelan leader on Telegram, as per AFP, announced that he was mobilising the military, police, and a civilian militia to defend Venezuela's "mountains, coasts, schools, hospitals, factories and markets," against any potential US aggression.
