The American president is asked the question in a telephone interview with NBC News and answers:
I'm not ruling it out, no.
When asked if Trump believes that the US escalation could cause a war, he replies that he "is not discussing it."
The US military has carried out 28 deadly attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing more than 100 people, claiming they were targeting suspected drug traffickers. On Tuesday, President Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned tankers in the waters off Venezuela.
Donald Trump has not given any direct information about the purpose of the escalation, but he accuses Nicolás Maduro's authoritarian socialist government of, among other things, being involved in organizing drug smuggling and migration flows towards the United States.
In the interview with NBC, the US president does not want to answer a question about whether his goal is to depose the Venezuelan president.
"He (Maduro) knows exactly what I want. He knows it better than anyone else," Trump replies.
