«Venezuela wants to talk. … I talk with anyone.»
By: La Tabla/Data Journalism Platform 17 NOV 2025
📌 Key points about Venezuela presented last night, November 16, 2025, by Donald Trump / Statement to reporters in Palm Beach before boarding Air Force One to return from Florida to Washington.
1. Initial question about updates
Original:
> «Any update on Venezuela, Mr. President, on Venezuela update?»
Trump:
> «No, no update on that as well.»
Translation:
> «Any update on Venezuela, Mr. President?»
> «No, there’s no update on that either.»
—
2. Designation of cartel associated with Maduro
Original:
> «With the designation of that cartel associated with Maduro, does that mean that the U.S. government can target Maduro’s assets or infrastructure inside Venezuela?»
Trump:
> «It allows us to do that, but we haven’t said we’re going to do that. And we may be discussing, we may be having some discussions with Maduro. And we’ll see how that turns out. They would like, they would like to talk.»
Translation:
> «With the designation of that cartel associated with Maduro, does that mean the U.S. government can target Maduro’s assets or infrastructure in Venezuela?»
> «That allows us to do it, but we haven’t said we’ll go ahead with that. We might be having some discussions with Maduro. We’ll see how that plays out. They want to, want to talk.»
—
3. Confirmation of willingness to talk
Original:
> «You said Venezuela wants to talk. What does that mean?»
Trump:
> «Venezuela would like to talk. … I talk to anybody. I talk to you, right? I talk to anybody. We’ll see what happens.»
Translation:
> «You mentioned Venezuela wants to talk. What does that mean?»
> «Venezuela would like to talk. … I talk to anyone. I talk to you, right? I talk to anybody. We’ll see what happens.»
—
4. Options with Congress
Original:
> «On Venezuela, are you discussing options with Congress? Are you going to Congress to discuss potential options?»
Trump:
> «We like to keep Congress involved. … I said, go to Congress and let them know we’re not letting drugs come through Mexico. We’re not letting them come through Venezuela. … We don’t have to get their approval, but I think letting them know is good.»
Translation:
> «About Venezuela, are you discussing options with Congress? Are you going to Congress to discuss possible options?»
> «We like keeping Congress in the loop. … I said, go to Congress and let them know we’re not allowing drugs through Mexico. We’re not allowing them through Venezuela. … We don’t need their approval, but I think keeping them informed is important.»
—
5. International support and migration accusations
Original:
> «Are any other countries committed to helping the U.S. with Venezuela…?»
Trump:
> «Yeah, we have great support because it’s all about drugs. … In Venezuela’s case, it’s about drugs, and it’s also about thousands, hundreds of thousands of people that they’ve released into our country. And some are gang members from Tren de Aragua. Some are drug—many are drug dealers. Some are murderers. So in the case of Venezuela, it’s about the prison population. Their almost entire prison population was released into the United States.»
Translation:
> «Are there other countries committed to helping the U.S. with Venezuela…?»
> «Yes, we have huge support because it’s all about drugs. … In Venezuela, it’s about drugs and also thousands, hundreds of thousands of people released into our country. Some are gang members from Tren de Aragua. Some are drug dealers—many are drug dealers. Some are killers. So, in the case of Venezuela, it’s about the prison population. Almost their entire prison population was released into the United States.»