National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Friday that the White House does not anticipate taking any “military actions” against Venezuela “in the near future.”
“Obviously all our decisions would be made in conjunction with our partners in the region,” McMaster told reporters at the afternoon press briefing. “No military actions are anticipated in the near future.”
McMaster and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin briefed reporters on new economic sanctions the administration is imposing against Venezuela after President Nicolás Maduro initiated an overhaul of the country’s constitution. The White House has declared Maduro’s regime a dictatorship.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump suggested that he might consider taking military action against the country, saying, “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.”
McMaster, taking questions from reporters on Friday, said Trump’s advisers “always look at a broad range of contingencies and how this might evolve in the future” and present that information to the president.