White House Draws Up Post-Maduro Plans As Trump Warns His “Days Are Numbered”

In a new interview with Politico released Tuesday President Trump stated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s “days are numbered” but still declined to say exactly what he has planned in terms of potential military action against Venezuela. 

He was asked specifically whether he might order boots on the ground in Venezuela, to which Trump responded simply, “I don’t comment on that.” Trump was also pressed on how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of regime change. Trump said, “I don’t want to say that.”

“But you want to see him out?” asked Politico reporter Dasha Burns. “I wouldn’t say that one way or the other,” Trump said, while criticizing the socialist strongman’s rule. But then later he conceded that he wouldn’t rule out an American ground invasion and that’s when the commander-in-chief said of Maduro, “His days are numbered.”

Donald Trump: ‘Maduro’s days are numbered.’

The brazen imperialist war to steal the world’s largest oil reserves looms. pic.twitter.com/9QgCP7k1tu

— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) December 9, 2025

But there are apparently robust plans for the ‘day after’ Maduro which have been prepared by the White House and Pentagon. These contingencies have no doubt been intensely discussed especially following the months-long major US naval build-up in the southern Caribbean.

A fresh CNN report indicates Tuesday that the “Trump administration is working on day-after plans in the event Maduro is ousted from power, according to two senior administration officials and another source familiar with the discussions.”

The sources said the plans have been “quietly drafted” and are highly classified. “They include multiple options for what US action could look like to fill the power vacuum and stabilize the country if Maduro voluntarily leaves as part of a negotiated departure or is forced into leaving after US strikes on targets inside Venezuela or other direct action, the sources said,” writes CNN.

Washington has had a recent history of facilitating regime change in supposedly ‘rogue states’ only to see once highly stable societies descend into disaster, chaos, and mass killings. Such happened everywhere from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya to most recently in Syria – where Druze, Christians, and Alawites continue to suffer at the hands of hardline Sunnis.

The Venezuela plans are being ‘closely held’ – CNN explains:

“It’s the job of the federal government to always prepare for plans A, B and C,” said a senior administration official, noting that the president would not be making the threats he’s making if he did not have a team ready with a series of options for any potential outcome.

Another source familiar with the planning said that it is “the responsibility of the US government to prepare for all scenarios around the world that may or may not unfold.” The plans are being closely held at the Homeland Security Council at the White House, the source added, which is led by Stephen Miller who has worked closely with Secretary of State and acting national security adviser Marco Rubio on the efforts related to Venezuela in recent months.

Apparently the US-supported Venezuelan opposition also factors in, and has been doing its own planning and preparations:

The opposition has been formulating “100 hour” and “100 day” plans for next steps if Maduro is ousted, and those plans have been shared with different parts of the Trump administration, a source familiar said. It is unclear how much the administration has incorporated any aspects of those plans into its thinking, the source said.

Washington has already anointed María Corina Machado and Edmundo González as the anti-Maduro oppositionists who will lead a political transition.

The US has going back to the Biden administration called Gonzalez the rightful “president-elect” of the oil-rich but corrupt country, and Trump has also described him as the true president after Maduro allegedly ‘stole’ the last election.

60 Minutes says there are only three possible outcomes in Venezuela: Maduro flees, gets captured by the US, or is assassinated. So they’re presupposing the inevitability of US-imposed regime change. Always fascinating when CBS News winds up in total alignment with the Trump Admin pic.twitter.com/ZE5zOtC4ll

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 27, 2025

Maduro is recently said to have offered serious overtures to the US regarding access to the nation’s huge underground oil reserves, but has also lately rejected Trump demands for him to immediately step down and exit the country.