President Donald Trump said Friday he is not considering strikes on Venezuela, which fears that a major US military buildup in the region is aimed at regime change in Caracas.

The United States has deployed eight US Navy ships to the Caribbean, sent F-35 stealth warplanes to Puerto Rico, and an aircraft carrier strike group is en route to the region -- a massive military force that Washington insists is aimed at curbing drug trafficking.

"No," Trump responded when asked by a journalist aboard Air Force One about reports that he was considering such strikes.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered the same message, as he responded to an article in the Miami Herald that said Washington's forces were poised to hit Venezuela.

"Your 'sources' claiming to have 'knowledge of the situation

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