President Trump indicated Sunday that Venezuelan officials \u201cwould like to talk\u201d \u2014 the same day the United States\u2019 most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean Sea as tensions mount with the Nicol\u00e1s Maduro-led South American nation. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe may be having some discussions with Maduro, and we\u2019ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,\u201d the president told reporters<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat does it mean? You tell me, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said when asked to elaborate. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll talk to anybody. We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier Sunday, the USS Gerald Ford and other warships in the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group entered the Caribbean Sea as part of Trump\u2019s \u201cdirective to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland,\u201d the Navy said in a statement<\/a>. <\/p>\n The operation has carried out at least 22 separate<\/a> missile strikes<\/a> on boats it deemed were smuggling drugs from Venezuela.<\/p>\n The USS Gerald R. Ford arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday. AP<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s comments and the arrival of the warships come three days after Maduro made a plea for \u201cpeace\u201d in an interview with CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo unite for the peace of [the Americas]. No more endless wars. No more unjust wars. No more Libya. No more Afghanistan,\u201d Maduro said.<\/p>\n Asked if he had a message for Trump, Maduro said, \u201cYes, peace. Yes, peace.\u201d <\/p>\n Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro denounced the US military\u2019s missile strikes and urged for \u201cpeace.\u201d AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n The hulking 100,000-ton USS Ford\u2019s presence marks the aggressive continuation of \u201cOperation Southern Spear,\u201d which includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and roughly 12,000 sailors and Marines. It marks the largest military presence in the Caribbean in 35 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n President Trump told reporters Sunday that Maduro \u201cwould like to talk.\u201d AP<\/p>\n While the ship was arriving in the Caribbean Sea, the US military\u2019s Southern Command shared a post on X<\/a> showing yet another alleged drug smuggling boat being blown up. The attack itself took place on Saturday in international waters off the eastern Pacific Ocean and killed three men on board, according to the SOUTHCOM.<\/p>\n The US strikes started in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in September, and since then at least 86 people have been killed<\/a>. <\/p>\n The US military is ramping up its presence in other countries on the northern coast of South America. <\/p>\n At least 86 people have been killed in 22 separate US-led missile strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats. DoD\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Army Secretary Dan Driscoll<\/a> told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d that US troops have been training in Panama and that the military will be \u201creactivating our jungle school\u201d to \u201cbe ready to act on whatever\u201d Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth order.<\/p>\n Maduro accused the US government of \u201cfabricating\u201d a war against him and wrote on Sunday that the \u201cVenezuelan people are ready to defend their homeland against any criminal aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n His government also asserted it has a \u201cmassive\u201d mobilization of troops and civilians<\/a> ready to defend against possible US attacks.<\/p>\n Maduro is accused of stealing last year\u2019s election and heading a state-sanctioned drug cartel. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US doesn\u2019t recognize Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, in part because he was widely accused of stealing last year\u2019s election. Rubio labeled Venezuela\u2019s government as a \u201ctransshipment organization\u201d that willingly works with drug traffickers. <\/p>\n Rubio doubled down on Sunday and announced that the State Department will be designating Cartel de los Soles<\/a> as a foreign terrorist organization, effective on Nov. 24. He claimed that the cartel is headed by Maduro and other high-ranking members of his government.<\/p>\n