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Commentary
Wall Street Journal

Trump’s New World Order

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
US President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping greet each other as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base, located next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan on October 30, 2025. Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will seek a truce in their bruising trade war on October 30, with the US president predicting a "great meeting" but Beijing being more circumspect. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping greet each other as they arrive for talks at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on October 30, 2025. (Getty Images)

“On Venezuela in particular,” CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell asked President Trump on “60 Minutes” Sunday, “are Maduro’s days as president numbered?”

“I would say yeah. I think so, yeah,” he replied.

“And this issue of potential land strikes in Venezuela, is that true?”

“I don’t tell you that. . . . You know, you’re a wonderful reporter, you’re very talented, but I’m not gonna tell you what I’m gonna do with Venezuela, if I was gonna do it or if I wasn’t going to do it.”

And that’s where matters stand. With a carrier strike group joining eight warships already in the region, a squadron of F-35s in Puerto Rico, and assorted elite military units in the area, the Trump administration has ramped up its standoff with Venezuela. Regime change is clearly the goal; the timetable and means are unspecified.

Read in The Wall Street Journal.