Trump Says Maduro’s Days Are Numbered as U.S. Deploys Largest Caribbean Military Force Since 1989

President Donald Trump warned Sunday that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is on borrowed time, as the United States carries out the most significant military buildup in the Caribbean in over three decades.

In a “60 Minutes” interview, Trump said the Maduro regime is responsible not only for fueling America’s drug crisis but for triggering a mass migration wave by “dumping” convicts and psychiatric patients into the U.S.

“They emptied their prisons and their insane asylums into the United States of America,” Trump said, adding that Maduro has treated America with contempt and enabled violent gangs like Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de Los Soles to infiltrate the country.

Backed by military muscle, the president’s words come amid a sharp increase in U.S. naval presence. The Pentagon has confirmed that the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and five guided-missile destroyers are en route to the region, joining a growing fleet already operating near Venezuelan waters. The total U.S. force will soon include 14 warships, nuclear submarines, and over 10,000 troops — the largest Caribbean military deployment since the 1989 invasion of Panama.

Since late August, U.S. forces have carried out 14 strikes on Venezuelan drug boats, killing more than 60 suspected narcoterrorists. Trump defended the actions, stating each boat “kills 25,000 Americans” through narcotics trafficked into the country.

In addition to sea power, the Pentagon has reactivated Puerto Rico’s Roosevelt Roads naval base — a Cold War relic now being rebuilt as the central command hub. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered 10 F-35 fighter jets to the base in September, with support from V-22 Ospreys, KC-130 tankers, and C-17 cargo aircraft.

Despite the escalation, Trump said he does not anticipate full-scale war with Venezuela, though he hinted at ongoing options for regime change. “I wouldn’t be inclined to say that I would do that because I don’t talk to a reporter about whether or not I’m going to strike,” he said when asked about airstrikes.

Opposition leader and recent Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado expressed hope that millions of Venezuelans would return home once Maduro is gone. “This regime systematically and intentionally looked to expel millions of Venezuelans,” she said. “The day Maduro goes, you will see hundreds of thousands… coming back home.”

Though the president downplayed the likelihood of war, his administration appears to be laying the groundwork for a possible endgame in Caracas. “We’re going to stop them by land also,” Trump said recently, signaling that operations could extend beyond maritime interdictions.