"We're not talking about" regime change in Venezuela, President Donald Trump told reporters back in August. "I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela," and that "a very strange election" put Nicolas Maduro in office, "to put it mildly."

"What I can tell you is Maduro is a narco-terrorist," said Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro's head, wanting him to face charges in the U.S.

Earlier this week, another six suspected narco-traffickers were killed in a strike ordered by Trump on a boat in the Caribbean suspected of carrying drugs. This brings the total number killed up to 27.

"Trump is truly aghast at how Maduro savaged the economy of a once-vibrant Venezuela," reports Nahal Toosi in Politico, mentioning how Trump appears to "genuinely dislike" Venezuela's president.

But Trump isn't just satisfied with strikes on boats. Yesterday, news broke that he secretly authorized the CIA to take some sort of action in Venezuela, the details of which aren't clear and haven't been confirmed. There's also been some repositioning of ships starting this past August. Never one to keep his mouth shut, Trump told reporters a bit about his plans: "We are certainly looking at land now, because we've got the sea very well under control," he told reporters.

At this point, "the scale of the military buildup in the region is substantial: There are currently 10,000 U.S. troops there, most of them at bases in Puerto Rico, but also a contingent of Marines on amphibious assault ships," reports The New York Times. "In all, the Navy has eight surface warships and a submarine in the Caribbean."

"Why did you authorize the CIA to go into Venezuela?" a reporter asked Trump yesterday. "They have emptied their prisons into the United States of America," responded the president, in what sure looks like him soft-launching the idea that an invasion would be warranted.

Maduro, for his part, announced that he would mobilize 4.5 million members of the Bolivarian Militia, which is a civilian force that's undergone military training, to support the official military, which has been placed on high alert.

If Maduro wants to be treated like a legit head of state, not the leader of a cartel, he isn't helping his own case:

Absolute HORROR- young Venezuelan activists @LuisPecheVE and @yendrive were shot at more than 10 times in what looks like a hit job in Bogota, where they are exiled. This would be the latest case of Maduro targeting dissidents abroad.

— Germania Rodriguez Poleo (@iamGermania) October 13, 2025

Nor is he interested in entertaining diplomatic pathways:

Appears a US deportation flight heading to Caracas turned back just before landing earlier this morning.

— Stephen Gibbs (@STHGibbs) October 15, 2025

One possible theory: This deportation flight was denied landing and turned around, possibly as retribution for Trump's choosing to strike the boats in the Caribbean. Maduro is making clear he's not interested in talking, and that he wants leverage.