US President Donald Trump has played down the prospect of imminent war with Venezuela but said President Nicolás Maduro’s days in power are numbered, as Washington amasses military units in the Caribbean and conducts strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels.

Trump’s remarks, made during a CBS interview released on Sunday, came as more than 15 US strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed at least 65 people in recent weeks, with the latest taking place on Saturday.

Asked during the 60 Minutes programme whether the US was going to war with Venezuela, Trump said he doubted it. However, when asked if Maduro’s days as president were numbered, he replied that he believed so.

Maduro, who faces indictment on drug charges in the US, has accused Washington of using drug trafficking as a pretext for imposing regime change in Caracas to seize Venezuelan oil. The strikes have prompted criticism from governments in the region.

Washington has not made public any evidence that its targets were smuggling narcotics or posed a threat to the US.

Nuclear testing claims

In the same interview, Trump alleged that countries including Russia and China had conducted underground nuclear tests unknown to the public, and that the US would test “like other countries do”.

Trump told 60 Minutes that Russia and China were testing but not talking about it, adding North Korea and Pakistan to the list of nations allegedly testing their arsenals.

Confusion has surrounded Trump’s order for the US to begin testing, particularly whether he meant conducting the country’s first nuclear explosion since 1992.

Trump first made the announcement in a social media post on Thursday, minutes before entering a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, saying he had instructed the Department of War to start testing US nuclear weapons on an equal basis.

The announcement came after Russia said it had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, and a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone.

Asked directly if he planned for the US to detonate a nuclear weapon for the first time in more than three decades, Trump told CBS that the US would test nuclear weapons like other countries do.

No country other than North Korea is known to have conducted a nuclear detonation for decades. Russia and China have not carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996, respectively.

Pressed on the topic, Trump said countries test deep underground where people do not know exactly what is happening with the test, adding that one might feel a slight vibration.

However, Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, on Sunday played down any possible tests by the US, telling Fox News that the tests being discussed were system tests, not nuclear explosions.

The US has been a signatory since 1996 to the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty, which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes.

Other topics

Trump said he would not be extorted by Democrats to reopen the government, making clear he has no plans to negotiate as the government shutdown approaches its sixth week.

Asked to clarify whether he would try to run for a third term, which is barred by the constitution, Trump said he did not think about it.

Trump said immigration enforcement officials had not gone far enough in deporting people who were in the country without legal authorisation.

(information from The Guardian)

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