Senior Trump aides have drafted offensive plans targeting Venezuela’s regime, reportedly including strikes on presidential guard bases, seizures of key oilfields and even an assassination plot against President Nicolás Maduro.
According to the outline being considered, operations would focus on degrading the units responsible for Maduro’s protection and crippling the regime’s revenue sources; planners argue some actions could be framed as counter-cartel moves against the Cartel de los Soles.
President Trump has not made a decision and is said to be deeply concerned about the risk of US casualties and the political fallout if an operation is perceived as a failure.
White House advisers are exploring ways to advance a top-level plan to remove Maduro without seeking congressional authorization or formally declaring war. Options under review include legal and intelligence rationales to treat Maduro and his inner circle as criminal cartel actors—thereby attempting to create a justification for direct action despite longstanding US policy against targeting sitting heads of state.