WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is poised to massively raise the stakes in its feud with the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who it accuses of supporting narcotrafficking and collusion with drug cartels.

President Donald Trump's startling Oct. 15 announcement that on-land strikes against Venezuela could come soon, which follows six strikes on Venezuelan boats that have killed more than two dozen people, raises questions as to what caused Trump's sudden aggression and where it will lead.

Maduro has already offered Venezuela's natural resources, Trump said Oct. 17. "You know why? Because he doesn't want to f--- around with the United States," he added.

The CIA also has received the green light from Trump to carry out secret operations inside Venezuela, the president confirmed in the same press conference.

"I authorized for two reasons really," Trump told reporters. "Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America...they came in through the border. The other thing are drugs."

News broke on Oct. 16 that Adm. Alvin Holsey, commander U.S. military forces in Latin and South America, will retire after just a year on the job.

Holsey has not said publicly why he is leaving. According to news reports, he had raised concerns with the ongoing strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea.

Trump and some of his allies have long harbored antipathy towards Venezuela's communist government, and fantasized about overthrowing it. But it is unclear whether that is Trump's goal in initiating military conflict with the oil-rich South American nation.

Who is Nicolas Maduro and why does Trump hate him?

Maduro has been in the crosshairs of American conservatives for decades. A socialist authoritarian with a record of human rights abuses, he took over in 2013 after winning an election as the handpicked successor of strongman Hugo Chavez. Both Maduro and Chavez have been accused by international monitors of rigging their electoral wins.

In the face of U.S. sanctions, Venezuela under Maduro widened its diplomatic and trade ties with U.S. foes like Russia, Iran and China, further angering Washington.

Conservative Cuban-Americans who fled Cuba after the revolution led by communist leader Fidel Castro have long held particular ire toward Chavez and his successor because of their government's close ties to Cuba.

Trump: 'We're not talking about' overthrowing Maduro

When asked by reporters in July if he wanted regime change in Venezuela, Trump said: "Well, we're not talking about that."

But Trump and his inner circle discussed military action in the country during his first term.

Trump reportedly asked advisers in 2019 about a military invasion of Venezuela during a meeting about sanctions against Maduro. Two years later, Mike Pompeo, Trump's then-secretary of state, said the U.S. would launch military action in Venezuela "if that's what's required."

In 2020, the Justice Department charged Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials for "narco-terrorism, corruption" and drug trafficking in 2020, saying they "expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine."

Trump – and most of Washington – threw support behind Juan Guaido, a Venezuelan opposition leader who declared himself president of the country and launched a failed coup in 2019.

Guaido appeared at Trump's State of the Union address that year and received a standing ovation. After Guaido's attempt to take power failed, he fled to the U.S. and became a professor at a Florida university.

Trump blames Maduro for cartel collusion

Trump has said his vendetta against Maduro's government hinges on its alleged ties to drug cartels, including Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles, which gets its name from the sun symbol patches on the sleeves of some Venezuelan military uniforms.

But those ties aren't proven, and Venezuelan drugs make up a tiny fraction of those trafficked into the United States.

In a secret report released in April, intelligence community analysts assessed that Maduro's regime does not operate directly with Tren de Aragua. That prompted Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's Director of National Intelligence, to fire the report's two authors.

A vanishingly small amount of the fentanyl trafficked into the U.S. comes from Venezuela – most can be traced back to Mexican cartels, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Less than 10% of U.S.-bound cocaine is trafficked through the eastern Caribbean Sea off Venezuela's shores, according to U.S. drug data.

All about the oil?

Venezuela sits on the world's largest oil reserves, a fact not lost on Trump.

"When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse," Trump said in 2023. "We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil, it would have been right next door."

The New York Times reported last week that Maduro dangled in front of Trump preferential access to Venezuelan oil for U.S. companies and to cut back its oil sales to China in favor of the U.S. – but to no avail.

Oil exports from Venezuela reached their highest levels in five years this month after the Trump administration in July walked back a February move to cut off U.S. oil giant Chevron from doing business in Venezuela. The terms of that waiver remain under wraps.

Deadly attacks and military buildup against Venezuela

Since early September, the Pentagon has launched five known strikes on boats in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing at least 27 people.

The Trump administration said the boats carried drugs and labeled their passengers "narco-terrorists," but has yet to produce evidence of either allegation. Questions were also raised about the identities of those killed after Colombian President Gustavo Petro said earlier this month that one strike targeted a Colombian vessel.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has deployed a massive amount of military force to the region, including eight Navy ships, F-35 fighter jets, a special operations ship, and 10,000 troops.

Is it legal for Trump to attack Venezuela?

The strikes were a jarring departure from U.S. policy on drug trafficking at sea, igniting alarm and criticism over their legality.

For decades, the Coast Guard has interdicted ships carrying drugs, boarded them, and carried out arrests.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the first boat targeted could have been interdicted, but instead, "on the president's orders, we blew it up."

The Pentagon sent some members of Congress a notice in late September stating that Trump determined the U.S. is now in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels. "The President directed the Department of War to conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict," the notice read.

Critics and legal experts have said that doesn't add up to a congressionally approved use of military forces. Senate Democrats, joined by two Republicans, tried unsuccessfully last week to pass a resolution to stop the strikes, saying Trump is illegally using military force without lawmakers' permission.

Maduro tries diplomatic letter, asks UN for help

As the pressure rises, Maduro has scrambled to boost his military readiness, even as he extended a diplomatic olive branch to Trump.

"I hope that together we can defeat the falsehoods that have sullied our relationship," he wrote in a letter to Trump last month.

Trump was not swayed. Weeks later, he called off diplomatic talks with Maduro that were led by special envoy Richard Grenell, the New York Times reported.

Maduro has since asked the United Nations Security Council to declare the boat strikes illegal and back up Venezuela's sovereignty, Reuters reported.

Poverty, immiseration under Maduro fuel migration surge

During his tenure as head of Venezuela, Maduro has presided over the arrests of thousands of political opponents, journalists and human rights advocates. More than half of the country lives in poverty, and 40% of the population experiences at least moderate food insecurity.

Those conditions have driven a massive wave of Venezuelans to flee the country, with many seeking refuge in the U.S. and adding to the flood of migrants at the southern border in recent years. Around 770,000 Venezuelan immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2023.

The Trump administration ended temporary protected status for Venezuelans in the United States, erasing legal protections for nearly 350,000 people and allowing them to be immediately deported. The move was challenged in court, but the Supreme Court sided with Trump in a ruling earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump amps up military, CIA action against Venezuela. Here's what to know.

Reporting by Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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