WASHINGTON - Former President Donald Trump plans to host Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for a meeting at the White House, a move signaling a potential shift in U.S. policy toward the South American nation amid escalating tensions and questions surrounding Trump’s recent statements on military intervention.The meeting comes after Trump confirmed he had spoken with Maduro by phone, tho details of that conversation remain undisclosed.
The planned meeting is occurring as the Trump administration last week formally designated Maduro and his allies as members of a foreign terrorist association,a designation officials stated would expand U.S. military options for potential action within Venezuela. This decision, coupled with Trump’s declaration of a planned pardon for former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of drug trafficking, has drawn criticism from some Republicans who see a conflicting message in the administration’s approach to regional security.
GOP Rep. Maria Salazar expressed concern that the pardon for Hernández sent a mixed signal given the administration’s increased pressure on Maduro. “I would have never done that,” Salazar told CNN’s dana Bash.Trump administration officials, however, have defended the pardon, arguing the Hernández conviction was a result of “over-prosecution” during the Biden administration. Leavitt, a Trump spokesperson, stated the former president is focused on defending the U.S. homeland and stopping the flow of illegal narcotics. “President Trump has been quite clear in his defense of the United states homeland, to stop these illegal narcotics from coming to our borders, whether that’s by land or by sea,” Leavitt said. “He’s also made it quite clear that he wants to correct the wrongs of the weaponized justice Department under the previous administration.”
