President Donald Trump has hinted that the surprise abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro may not be his last operation in Latin America.
Trump, 79, suggested on Fox & Friends Saturday that action could be taken against Mexico, an ally of the U.S., which he said is run by drug cartels—a similar allegation he made against Maduro and Venezuela.
“Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” he said.
Trump then issued an even more explicit threat to Colombia, which borders Venezuela to the west, and its president, Gustavo Petro, during a Mar-a-Lago news conference.
“I stick by my first statement. He’s making cocaine,” Trump said of Petro. “They’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his a--.”
Petro, 65, has been described as Colombia’s first left-wing leader in its modern history.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with Trump at his side, also threatened Cuba and claimed that it was the root of many of Venezuela’s problems. Rubio, 54, is the son of Cuban migrants.
“This poor island took over Venezuela in some cases,” Rubio said. “One of the biggest problems Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba—they tried to basically colonize it from a security standpoint.”
Next came a veiled threat.
“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least a little bit,” he said.
Trump added of Cuba, “The people there have suffered for many years. I think Cuba is something that we’ll end up talking about, because they’re a badly failing nation.”
When asked earlier Saturday about Mexico by Fox’s Griff Jenkins, Trump responded that the cartels have more power than its democratically elected left-wing president, Claudia Sheinbaum, whom Trump clashed with early in MAGA 2.0 over immigration and the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump said that Sheinbaum, 63, has rejected offers of American military aid to take action against the cartels, claiming she has told him, “No, no, no, Mr. President. No, no, no, please.”
Trump then hinted that he might order action in Mexico anyway, claiming that drugs coming over the southern border are killing Americans by the hundreds of thousands and that “something’s going to have to be done with Mexico.”
Trump said that he remains friendly with Sheinbaum and that strikes against Venezuela, which were carried out without Congressional approval, were not meant to send a message to her.
“She’s a good woman, but the cartels are running Mexico,” Trump continued. “She’s not running Mexico. The cartels are running Mexico. And we could be politically correct and be nice and say, Oh yes, she is. No, no. She’s very, you know, she’s very frightened of the cartels. They’re running Mexico. And I’ve asked her numerous times, would you like us to take out the cartels?”
Jenkins, 55, suggested earlier on the program that Sheinbaum may need to be concerned.
“Trump’s message is very clear that ‘the drug trafficking must stop.’ When I hear that, I think, what must Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, be thinking? What message does this operation potentially set up for her now?”
Jenkins noted that Sheinbaum immediately condemned Trump’s attack on Venezuela, citing the Charter of the United Nations
“The Government of Mexico strongly condemns and rejects the military actions carried out unilaterally in recent hours by armed forces of the United States of America,” her government said in a statement. “Based on its foreign policy principles and its pacifist vocation, Mexico makes an urgent call to respect international law, as well as the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, and to cease any act of aggression against the Venezuelan government and people.”
Jenkins asked Fox host Sean Hannity if he thinks the overnight attack in Venezuela has Sheinbaum worried.
“Do you think that she must be wondering what this all means for her?” Jenkins asked.
Hannity responded, “One hundred percent. I mean, the Mexican president, the Colombian president—I know you had the guest on who is running for Colombian president, and I think that all of those leaders have to be looking over their shoulder as far as what that means and where this goes.”
Trump revealed on the program that the U.S. had a “second wave” ready to go early Saturday morning, but did not proceed with it. With Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, already in custody, it is not clear what else American forces might have struck.
Trump noted on Fox that American forces were injured in the operation, but none were killed.
On Fox, Trump suggested that additional strikes would be carried out in Venezuela if things did not change with Maduro’s absence.
“What is the future look like for the Maduro loyalists who are still in Caracas, and I assume, have not yet fled or been removed?” asked Jenkins.
Trump responded, “Well, if they stay loyal, the future is really bad, really bad for them.”
The president reiterated his threat at his late-morning news conference.
“All political and military figures of Venezuela should know what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them if they do bad to their people,” he said.
