Washington, 20 December (H.S.): United States President Donald Trump, in a candid telephone interview with NBC News on Thursday, refused to preclude military conflict with Venezuela, responding affirmatively to queries about potential war by stating, I don't rule it out, no, as his administration intensifies a comprehensive oil blockade targeting the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

This unyielding posture accompanies recent U.S. naval seizures of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, including a major operation last week that intercepted a vessel departing Caracas waters, part of a broader campaign to sever Maduro's primary revenue stream from the nation's vast proven reserves—the world's largest. President Trump accused the authoritarian leader of presiding over a narco-terrorist cartel, linking oil proceeds to drug trafficking, human smuggling, and violence; since September 2025, American forces under Southern Command have conducted over 20 strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in more than 100 fatalities, with promises of imminent land operations against traffickers.

When pressed on ousting Maduro, President Trump cryptically remarked, He knows exactly what I want... He knows better than anybody, while alleging Venezuela nationalized American energy assets and demanding restitution.

The escalated military footprint in the Caribbean, bolstered by Navy deployments since August, has drawn Venezuelan naval defiance and international scrutiny, with critics decrying the actions as legally dubious extrajudicial killings. President Trump has designated Maduro-linked Cartel de los Soles a terrorist entity and offers a $50 million bounty for his arrest on narco-trafficking charges from 2020, framing the blockade—announced Tuesday as a total and complete measure against sanctioned tankers—as essential to reclaiming U.S. interests and curbing hemispheric threats.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar