(MENAFN- Live Mint)

US President Donald Trump downplayed the likelihood of the United States going to war with Venezuela, said he believes the South American nation leader Nicolás Maduro 's time in power is coming to an end.

“I would say yeah. I think so, yeah,” Trump told CBS News' 60 Minutes when asked if Maduro's days as president were numbered.

'I doubt' US will go to war with Venezuela

Despite the rising tensions, Trump said he does not believe the US is on the verge of war with Venezuela.

“I doubt it, I don't think so,” he told 60 Minutes host Norah O'Donnell, when asked if the US was preparing for war.“But they've been treating us very badly, not only on drugs. They've dumped hundreds of thousands of people into a country that we didn't want – people from prisons.”

Accuses Maduro of sending Criminals to US

Trump accused Venezuela of deliberately sending criminals and people from mental institutions into the United States, calling it one of his top concerns.“To me, that would be almost number one,” Trump said.

“They emptied their prisons into our country,” he said.“They also, if you take a look, emptied their mental institutions and their insane asylum into the United States of America because Joe Biden was the worst president in the history of our country.”

“We have other countries, like Mexico, that have been very bad to us in terms of drugs... We have a closed border right now. So think of this: zero people coming into our country through our southern border.”

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The US military has conducted more than a dozen strikes on vessels allegedly transporting drugs in international waters near Venezuela, killing dozens of suspected narco-terrorists.

The operations coincide with the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to the US Southern Command region - a move that has prompted speculation about a potential regime-change operation against Maduro.

When asked by O'Donnell whether the buildup was primarily about narcotics interdiction or targeting the Venezuelan government, Trump said the mission covered“many things.”

No comment on possible land strikes

Asked about reports of possible US land strikes inside Venezuela, Trump refused to confirm or deny them.

“I'm not saying it's true or untrue,” he said.“I would not talk to a reporter about plans to strike another country.”

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