Trump confirms phone call with Venezuela’s Maduro amid tensions

By Yasin Gungor

ISTANBUL (AA) - US President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he held a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro but declined to provide details about the conversation.

"I don't want to comment on it. The answer is yes," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington, DC from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he spent Thanksgiving.

"I can't do that," he said when asked to describe the call, adding: "I wouldn't say it went well or badly."

The New York Times reported Friday that the leaders spoke by phone last week and discussed a possible meeting, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

"We consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country. They sent millions of people, and a lot of those people shouldn't be in our country—from jails, from gangs, from drug dealers," he said.

Asked whether his recent warning about Venezuelan airspace meant an airstrike is imminent, Trump responded: "Don't read anything into it."

The confirmation comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas, with Trump recently declaring that Venezuelan airspace would be "completely shut down."