Republican lawmakers are divided over whether President Trump should escalate military pressure on Venezuela to oust President Nicolás Maduro, with some Republicans warning that “regime

Venezuelan Ambassador Samuel Moncada denounced recent U.S. actions aimed at undermining the country's leadership and energy sector, amid President Donald Trump's escalating pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro.

When asked if he could rule out a ground invasion of Venezuela, Trump answered: “I don’t want to rule in or out.”

Now, President Donald Trump wants Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power. Maduro’s “days are numbered,” Trump told Politico in an interview released on Dec. 9. His Administration considers Maduro the head of a government-sponsored cocaine smuggling syndicate.

Maduro’s government has called the U.S. behavior “theft” and “an act of international piracy,” and filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council. Maduro also ordered the Venezuelan navy to escort tankers headed to Asia.

President Donald Trump is gathering with top national security officials on Monday, a meeting that comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administration's escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed the Trump administration's campaign against the Venezuelan regime, highlighting that authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro "has been critical of Israel.