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Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to a foreign nation as part of his latest effort to combat drug trafficking.
In his first sit-down interview since the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that 97 percent of drugs entering the US by sea had been blocked.
“We are going to start now hitting land,” he warned. “The cartels are running Mexico; it’s very sad to watch and see what’s happened to that country.”
The 79-year-old claimed cartel-related drug trafficking is killing “250,000, 300,000 in our country every single year," and credited his administration with taking down Maduro in a complex military mission that he claimed happened in the heart of a Venezuelan fortress.
“[Maduro’s] house was in the middle of a fort, with thousands of people and soldiers. And we went right into the middle of a fort. Who would think you could do that and not lose anybody? But they had it planned so beautifully, General ‘Razin Caine’ and Pete Hegseth were fantastic," Trump said.
The president commended US forces for avoiding casualties and said Cuban soldiers who were present “got wiped out,” though he declined to specify numbers.
He also said the takedown left Cuba vulnerable, adding: "No. Cuba totally relies on Venezuela for money and for oil, and they give Venezuela protection.”
The president also addressed the "Donroe Doctrine" - a term some of his supporters have created for his brand of foreign policy.
"Well, they call it the ‘Donroe’ - I didn't call it that, but they are calling it the Monroe Doctrine. And now they call it ‘The Donroe,’ which is basically safety for this part of the world. And yeah, Imean, it's pretty simple: We don't want drugs pouring into our country," Trump said.
He slammed former president Joe Biden as “the disgraced worst president in the history of our country” and blamed the prior administration for border chaos.
“We had millions of people pouring through the border. Now we have nobody coming in unless they come in legally," he added.
In a separate interview with the New York Times, Trump doubled down on his vision of presidential power, saying his authority is only constrained by one thing: “My own morality, my own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
While he acknowledged the role of international law, he also said, “It depends on what your definition of international law is.”
The president dismissed concerns that removing Maduro would embolden China or Russia to make territorial grabs.
“You didn’t have drugs pouring into China. You didn’t have the jails of Taiwan opened up and the people pouring into China,” he said. He added that Chinese leader Xi Jinping “may do it after we have a different president but I don’t think he’s going to do it with me as president.”
He also brushed off the looming expiration of the last US-Russia arms control treaty, saying, “If it expires, it expires. We’ll just do a better agreement,” and added, “You probably want to get a couple of other players involved also,” referencing China.
As part of the Venezuela aftermath, Trump announced he would meet with the top 14 oil companies at the White House.
“They’re going to rebuild the entire oil infrastructure,” he said, adding that Venezuela had “given us everything we’ve wanted,” including the release of political prisoners and access to oil worth “billions and billions.”
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has even offered to give Trump her Nobel Peace Prize.
While not confirming whether he’ll accept it, Trump called the offer “a great honor” and said she’ll be visiting the White House next week.
