OAN Staff Blake Wolf
9:14 AM – Monday, December 1, 2025
President Donald Trump is reportedly set to meet with top national security officials in the Oval Office on Monday evening to map out the next course of action on Venezuela.
The meeting will reportedly include War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, and chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to a CNN report, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The report of the critical meeting on potential Venezuelan military intervention follows President Trump’s Truth Social post on Saturday, where he announced that the airspace “above and surrounding Venezuela” should be considered “closed in its entirety.”
The Trump administration continues to deploy military assets to the Caribbean, signaling readiness for potential conflict with Venezuela — should the United States move to confront President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro has been accused of leading drug trafficking networks in collaboration with international cartels.
On Sunday, President Trump also confirmed that he spoke with Maduro over the phone last month, stating, “I don’t want to comment on it. [But] the answer is yes,” when asked by reporters whether he had spoken with the Venezuelan leader.
“I wouldn’t say it went well or badly. It was a phone call,” he added.
According to a report by the Miami Herald, during his phone call with Maduro, President Trump reportedly offered an ultimatum, calling on Maduro to step down and receive safe passage out of the country, but “only if he agreed to resign right away.”
“You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now,” Trump reportedly told Maduro.
According to the report, Maduro refused to step down immediately and instead asked for worldwide immunity from prosecution while asking to remain in control of the armed forces in exchange for giving up political power.
The President later told reporters over the weekend, “Don’t read anything into it,” when asked whether his announcement of the closure of Venezuelan airspace means that the U.S. is considering imminent airstrikes.
The airspace over Venezuela should be closed “because we consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country,” Trump added.
“They sent millions of people, really, and probably a number in excess of that and a lot of those people shouldn’t be in our country from jails, from gangs, drug dealers, from all of the people that came into our country, shouldn’t have been in our country causing a lot of problems and drugs,” Trump added.
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