Ultimatum: Trump directly asked Maduro to give up power and leave the country / Venezuela's leader refused and came up with a counter-proposal

“You can save yourself and those close to you, but you have to leave the country now,” Trump told Maduro in a phone conversation ten days ago, according to sources cited by the American daily Miami Herald. The US is showing signs of preparing for ground strikes in Venezuela, although it is unclear how extensive a possible military campaign would be.

Donald Trump gave Nicolás Maduro an ultimatum, asking him to immediately relinquish power, a message conveyed during their recent phone conversation.

Venezuela's authoritarian leader refused, demanding a “global amnesty” for himself and his allies, writes the Miami Herald.

On Sunday, the US president confirmed that the conversation had taken place, telling reporters: “I wouldn't say it went well or badly, it was a phone call.”

The conversation came amid increasingly clear signals that the Trump administration is preparing a more aggressive phase of operations against Venezuela's so-called Cartel de los Soles, which Washington says is led by Maduro and other senior officials.

On Thursday, President Trump announced that US military action – which has so far focused on sinking speedboats suspected of carrying drugs in the Caribbean – will soon expand to Venezuelan territory.

Speaking to the military during a Thanksgiving phone call, he said the US military would begin “very soon” ground operations to disrupt what he described as Venezuelan drug trafficking networks.

What Maduro wants

Neither the US nor the Venezuelan government has provided further details about the topics discussed during the highly unusual conversation, which is believed to have taken place on November 21.

According to sources cited by the Miami Herald, the US president sent a “direct message” to his South American counterpart.

“You can save yourself and those close to you, but you must leave the country now,” Trump said, offering Maduro, his wife and son free passage “only if they agree to resign immediately.”

However, according to sources, the Venezuelan president has refused to resign immediately and has made a number of demands, including international immunity from prosecution and permission to cede political control but retain control of the armed forces.

According to the Miami Herald, there have been no further direct contacts between Trump and Maduro after Trump declared that Venezuela's airspace was “completely closed.” This despite the fact that Maduro would have requested a second conversation with the American leader.

“There has been no response from the Maduro government,” the Miami Herald said, noting that the first discussion was mediated by Brazil, Qatar and Turkey.

What's next

Despite the information leaked to the press, most observers do not believe that the US president intends to back up these threats with a large-scale military action, The Guardian writes.

Venezuelans don't believe that either. “Maduro and most of his aides consider US military threats a bluff,” a source who has regular contact with senior Venezuelan officials told the Wall Street Journal last month.

Since his election in 2013, the Venezuelan leader has weathered a series of crises, including the “maximum pressure” campaign of Trump's first term, several rounds of mass protests, a historic economic crisis, an assassination attempt in 2018 and a possible defeat in last year's presidential election, which observers say was actually won by opponent Edmundo González.

The United States has put a $50 million bounty on Maduro's head — the largest ever offered for a sitting head of state — and $25 million on ruling party strongman Diosdado Cabello.

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal urged the Trump administration to continue to step up pressure on Venezuela and said “impeachment of Maduro is in the US national interest.” “If Maduro refuses to go and Trump hesitates to act to remove him, Trump and US credibility stand to lose,” the paper's editorial board concluded.

In an attempt to find a peaceful solution, Colombian President Gustavo Petro proposed the Colombian city of Cartagena as a possible venue for negotiations between the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan opposition.

In a letter to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries published by Venezuelan state media on Sunday, Maduro accused the US of trying to “approach Venezuela's vast oil reserves – the largest on the planet – through the lethal use of military force”.

US pressures

The Trump administration has been evaluating for some time the best strategy on Venezuela, which has the stated goal of combating Maduro's alleged role in supplying illegal drugs to the US.

Maduro has denied any connection to the illegal drug trade.

Reuters reported that options being considered by the US include an attempt to overthrow Maduro and that the US military is preparing for a new phase of operations after a massive concentration of military forces in the Caribbean and nearly three months of attacks on suspected drug-trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela.

Human rights groups condemned the attacks, which they described as illegal extrajudicial killings of civilians, and some US allies expressed growing concern that Washington could be violating international law.

Trump said he would look into whether the US military launched a second strike in the Caribbean that killed survivors during an operation in September, adding that he would not have wanted such an attack.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attacks were legal but were intended to be “lethal”.

In preparation for ground strikes

Washington, meanwhile, has taken steps to expand its legal authority.

On Monday, the State Department officially designated the Los Soles Cartel as a foreign terrorist organization, placing Maduro, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López in the same legal category as Al-Qaeda and ISIS leaders, writes the Miami Herald.

The designation, published in the Federal Register, is a tool that gives the administration new leeway to take military action without additional congressional approval.

Analysts say the measure has considerable scope. Because U.S. officials say the cartel operates from within the Venezuelan state, the designation effectively treats the Maduro government as part of a terrorist network.

Experts note that the move could allow the administration to invoke the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, the legal basis for most US counterterrorism operations over the past two decades.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the designation “opens up a lot of new options,” and Trump suggested it could pave the way for attacks on Venezuelan infrastructure.