STORY: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (November 25) that he is open to speaking with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, signaling a possible diplomatic opening amid a growing military escalation between the two countries. “If we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that’s fine. And if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine too,” Trump said.

Trump made the comments aboard Air Force One as he traveled to his private residence in Florida to spend Thanksgiving. His remarks point to the possibility of a direct conversation aimed at easing a standoff that has sharply heightened tensions in the Caribbean.

He added that their respective teams are already in contact with the goal of arranging a direct conversation between the two leaders.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN AIR (NOVEMBER 25, 2025) (WHITE HOUSE - Access all)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP APPROACHING JOURNALISTS ON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, IN EXCHANGE WITH OFF CAMERA JOURNALIST, SAYING:

JOURNALIST (OFF CAMERA): “Mr. President, on Venezuela, sir, are you planing to talk to Nicolas Maduro?”

TRUMP: “I might talk to him, we’ll see. We’re discussing that with their different staffs we might talk about Venezuela.”

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, IN EXCHANGE WITH JOURNALISTS, SAYING:

JOURNALIST: “Maduro, the US designated him the leader of this foreign terrorist organization. Why do you want to talk to him if he's a leader…?”

TRUMP: “If we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that's fine. And if we have to do it the hard way, that's fine too.”

JOURNALIST (OFF CAMERA): “What’s the goal?”

TRUMP: “I'm going to tell you what the goal is. You should probably know what the goal is, but they've caused a lot of problems and they've sent millions of people into our country. They had, I mean, they were probably the biggest abuser with Tren de Aragua and all the others that they sent in, the drug dealers, the drug lords, the people that they sent in, the jailbirds. They opened their jails and prisons and dumped them into the United States. And we're not happy about it.”

6. WHITE FLASH

7. TRUMP THANKING JOURNALISTS