Trump says Maduro ‘offered everything’ as U.S. expands operations in Caribbean

President Donald Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has “offered everything” as the United States expands its military and intelligence operations against alleged narcotics networks linked to Venezuela.

Asked Friday about reports that Maduro had offered concessions to Washington, Trump said, “He has offered everything, you know why? Because he doesn’t want to fuck around with the United States.”

The Associated Press reported that Venezuelan officials have discussed a potential plan in which Maduro would eventually step down, though that proposal was rejected by the White House.

The New York Times previously reported that Maduro had privately offered U.S. officials access to a share of Venezuela’s oil and mineral wealth as part of a broader negotiation attempt.

U.S. forces carried out another strike on Thursday, destroying a suspected drug-carrying submarine in the Caribbean. It was the sixth confirmed U.S. attack on vessels in the region since early September and the first to result in survivors, who were taken into U.S. custody, according to the AP.

The latest strike brought the overall death toll from the operations to at least 28.

“This was in a submarine, right, we attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” Trump told reporters. “This was not an innocent group of people.”

The latest strike follows weeks of escalating U.S. military and intelligence activity in the Caribbean and near Venezuela.

As The Washington Post reported Thursday, U.S. Special Operations helicopters were recently spotted flying less than 90 miles from Venezuela’s coast, part of training that officials said could prepare forces for expanded missions inside the country.

Trump confirmed earlier this week that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela and that U.S. forces will soon expand their anti-cartel efforts from the sea to land.