President Donald Trump says he's "sort of made up my mind" on whether to take military action in Venezuela, a move that would escalate an already tense situation after the United States spent two months striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

"I can’t tell you what it would be, but I’ve sort of made up my mind," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Nov. 14. "We’ll see what happens. I mean, I can’t tell you what it is but we’ve made a lot of progress on Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in."

The United States deployed F-35 aircraft, warships and a nuclear submarine to the region as part of a military buildup following two months of deadly strikes against boats off Venezuela. Earlier this week, the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group moved into the Latin America region - bringing with it more than 75 military aircraft and over 5,000 troops.

The United Staes refuses to recognize the legitimacy of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has held office since Hugo Chavez's death in 2013, as the country's head of state. The State Department is offering $50 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction, an amount they have repeatedly increased since 2020.

Maduro has said that Trump is seeking to oust him from power, but Trump has repeatedly said he is not pursuing regime change. The Latin American country is planning to mount a guerrilla-style resistance or sow chaos in the event of an air or ground attack from the United States.

"Drugs coming into our country are greatly slowed," Trump said in his comments Nov. 14. He also said the problem isn't limited to Venezuela.

"But we have a Mexico problem. We have a Colombia problem," he said. "We’re doing very well."

Contributing: Reuters.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says he 'sort of made up my mind' on whether to attack Venezuela

Reporting by Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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