Trump Admin May Have Eyes On New Regime Change War

The United States is reportedly planning to target drug traffickers in Venezuela, raising questions about the possibility of regime change in the country.

U.S. military officials are considering attacking drug traffickers in the coming weeks within the borders of Venezuela, four sources told NBC News.

“We’ll see what happens. Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It’s not acceptable,” the White House told NBC, referencing a previous statement from Trump.

The report follows rising tensions over drugs and the mobilization of U.S. forces in the Caribbean.

Throughout September, President Donald Trump authorized striking several boats allegedly carrying drugs and drug traffickers. (RELATED: Hegseth Declares War On Fat Generals)

“BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!” Trump declared in a Truth post on September 15, attaching a video of the second boat strike. “The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American citizens. NO LONGER.”

The attacks sparked the ire of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro responded to the first strike on Sept. 2 by flying two F-16 fighter jets over a U.S. Navy destroyer two days later, according to Time magazine.

Maduro claimed the U.S. was seeking “to intimidate and seek regime change,” and that the U.S. was “looking for a military incident,” according to the Associated Press.

Trump has denied regime change in Venezuela is a goal of his administration, Time reported Sept. 6.

“We’re not talking about that,” he told reporters.

Maduro helped spearhead the Cartel of the Suns, a drug-trafficking group, and has a $50 million bounty for his arrest, according to the Department of State.

Republican representatives have warned that Maduro could face consequences.

In an interview published Sept. 13, Republican Florida Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart said Maduro has three options: leave now, end up in prison for the rest of his life or end up like Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, which he describes as “basically being reduced to dust in a plastic bag.”

“Those are the three options that Maduro, the Maduro regime and those around them have,” Díaz-Balart added.

Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez posted in August that “Maduro’s days are numbered.”

🚨#SOSVenezuela🚨

The U.S. has only ever indicted 2 foreign leaders in the region: Noriega of #Panamá & Maduro in #Venezuela.

Only two leaders dared the U.S. to ‘come get them’: Noreiga & Maduro.

How did it turn out for Noriega? Behind bars!

Maduro’s days are numbered. pic.twitter.com/eaJ0Kyc0Mi

— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) August 24, 2025

The U.S. planned to deploy 10 F-35 fighter jets to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, bolstering its already strong presence in the area, sources told Reuters in September.

“So we’re not going to have a cartel, operating or masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a mid-September interview with Fox News.

“The President of the United States made clear that he’s not going to allow cartels, that cartel or any other cartel, to operate with impunity in our hemisphere and send drugs towards the United States. And he’s going to use the U.S. military and all the elements of American power to target cartels who are targeting America.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth deemed Maduro “effectively a kingpin of a drug narco state” and added that he “should be worried” in an interview with Fox News.

“The Trump administration has carefully constructed a policy rationale that this is not ‘regime change’ for the sake of exporting democracy to the world’s benighted peoples,” former National Security Council and U.S. State Department official, José Cárdenas, told Newsweek.

“It is a national security initiative meant to eliminate a source of tons of cocaine from entering the United States. Main Street, USA, can identify with that,” he continued.

Trump recently detailed his plans to crack down on drug traffickers in his address to the United Nations (UN).

“We’ve recently begun using the supreme power of the United States military to destroy Venezuelan terrorists and trafficking networks led by Nicolás Maduro,” Trump said at the United Nations General Assembly. “To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence.”

“Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela; he’s a fugitive of American justice who undermines regional security and poisons Americans and we want to see him brought to justice. The U.S. is engaged in a targeted counter-drug cartel operation,” State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott told The Daily Caller in a Statement.