President Donald Trump confirmed Friday that the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela has been seeking to negotiate a deal with Washington, offering wide-ranging concessions in an effort to ease tensions between the two countries.
The comments from the White House came after a Miami Herald report on Thursday revealed that senior Venezuelan officials had floated proposals to U.S. intermediaries that included opening the country’s natural resources to American companies and creating a transition in which Maduro would eventually step down.
Asked by reporters whether Maduro had offered “everything in his country, all the natural resources” as part of an attempt to start a mediation process, Trump said the reports were accurate.
“He has offered everything — he’s offered everything, you’re right,” Trump said. “Do you know why? Because he doesn’t want to f--- around with the United States.”
While Trump’s remarks did not directly confirm that Maduro had agreed to step down, they acknowledged that Caracas has made multiple efforts to negotiate some form of understanding with Washington.
Sources familiar with the Maduro government’s outreach told the Herald that a group of senior regime figures — led by Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and her brother, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez — made overtures to U.S. officials, using intermediaries in Qatar, proposing a transition that would replace Maduro while preserving the core of Venezuela’s ruling structure.
The proposals, presented to the Trump administration on two separate occasions this year, aimed to persuade U.S. officials that a “Madurismo without Maduro” arrangement could enable a peaceful transition while maintaining stability within the regime, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.
In a message posted late Thursday on her Telegram channel, Delcy Rodríguez denied the Herald report, calling it part of a “psychological warfare” campaign against Venezuela.
“FAKE!! Another outlet joins the filth of psychological warfare against the Venezuelan people. They have no ethics or morals and exclusively favor lies and carrion,” she wrote.
Rodríguez, who also serves as oil minister, insisted that Venezuela’s political and military leadership remains united behind Maduro.
“The Bolivarian revolution has a high political and military command that is united and committed to the will of the people,” she said, vowing that “nothing will deviate” her government from defending “Venezuela’s rights and its dignified Bolivarian legacy.”
Caracas has repeatedly accused Washington of plotting “regime change” under the guise of counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean, where U.S. naval forces have expanded patrols near Venezuelan waters. U.S. officials maintain that the deployment targets drug trafficking networks tied to senior Venezuelan political and military figures.
Tensions escalated further this week after Trump revealed new details about the latest strike in the region. Speaking at the White House on Friday, the president said the vessel attacked by U.S. forces was a submarine “specifically built to transport large quantities of drugs.”
“We attacked a submarine, a drug-laden submarine,” Trump said. “Just so you understand, this wasn’t an innocent group. I don’t know many people who own submarines, and this was an attack on a drug-laden submarine.”
According to local press reports, the U.S. military strike took place Thursday night in the Caribbean near the Venezuelan coast. The operation left two survivors who are reportedly in U.S. custody.
Trump did not announce the strike on his social media accounts as he has done with previous operations.
Trump also said this week that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations and is considering possible ground operations, arguing that U.S. forces have already disrupted much of the maritime drug trade.
Since August, the U.S. military has deployed ships and aircraft near Venezuela’s coast under the banner of counter-narcotics operations, prompting growing tensions with Maduro’s government, which views the buildup as a prelude to a potential attack.
The expanded deployment includes more than 4,500 U.S. troops — Marines and Navy personnel — supported by a cruiser, destroyers, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, and F-35 fighter jets based in Puerto Rico, giving Washington overwhelming air and naval superiority over Venezuela’s aging fleet.
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