International security

Military intervention in Venezuela is ‘an option,' Trump says, as Russia warns against ‘meddling’

A U.S. military intervention in Venezuela is still on the table, President Donald Trump said Sunday.

The president was asked about his position on the crumbling South American country this weekend during an interview with CBS' Face the Nation.

The comments come after National Security Adviser John Bolton flashed a notebook suggesting 5,000 U.S. troops could be sent to respond to the crisis in Venezuela, and after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered all U.S. diplomats to leave the country, which the U.S. ignored.

Maduro has since backtracked on the expulsion order, but his country remains divided.

When asked what would make him deploy U.S. forces to Venezuela, Trump said: “Well I don’t want to say that. But certainly it’s something that’s on the — it’s an option.”

Trump added that he turned down a request from Maduro to meet “a number of months ago.”

“I decided at the time, ‘no’ because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela,” Trump said. “That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world. ... And now you look at the poverty and you look at the anguish and you look at the crime.”