Is Donald Trump on the verge of invading Venezuela? Top aide Karline Leavitt responds

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House (Image: Anna Moneymaker, Getty Images)

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, gave a cryptic response when quizzed by journalists about whether President Donald Trump would send National Guard troops into Venezuela. During an early afternoon briefing at the White House, she was pressed on the issue and responded, "I won't get into specific proposals being considered by the president and his national security team."

This comes after weeks of repeated airstrikes on Venezuelan water vessels that Trump alleged were carrying fentanyl.

The White House authorised the destruction of boats in international waters on three separate occasions, resulting in at least nine fatalities. The news emerges as US forces gather as Donald Trump vows military action against South American country.

Given Leavitt's ambiguous reply, it seems the president is ready to use his executive power to deploy troops abroad. This week, Trump attempted to bypass a court order preventing him from sending the National Guard to Oregon to suppress what he has called violent riots, but which organisers have maintained are peaceful protests reports the Express US.

This decision sparked outrage from both California Governor Gavin Newsom - who has had several disputes with President Trump since the start of his second term in January - and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek.

The president also appeared poised to deploy Texas National Guard troops into Portland despite Kotek's opposition, receiving full support from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

National Guard deployment typically falls under state governors' authority unless the U.S. president assumes federal control of the units, which Trump has executed.

This power struggle over the National Guard emerges as the president escalated his threats of widespread redundancies on Sunday, with the government shutdown entering its fifth day and neither party showing signs of compromise.

After failed negotiations with Democrats at the White House last week, Trump declared he would implement mass dismissals potentially affecting thousands of federal workers, predominantly from Democrat-supporting agencies, unless congressional opponents backed a temporary measure enabling Republicans to maintain spending and ultimately reopen the government.

The White House has so far destroyed three Venezuelan vessels since September (Image: AP)

Democrats have remained in opposition to supporting such a measure unless the Trump administration reverses substantial cuts to medicaid whilst providing over $1 trillion in subsidies for the Affordable Care Act.

President Trump and other leading GOP figures have shown no willingness to make such concessions.

Republicans have been promoting the idea that Democrats want undocumented immigrants to benefit from taxpayer-funded healthcare.

The timeline and specific agencies targeted for the president's potential firings remain uncertain. However, union labour groups are ready to legally challenge any actions they perceive as unlawful.

U.S. Military Forces launch strike on Venezuelan 'drug boat'

As the political deadlock persists, thousands of federal workers are on furlough until the government reopens.

Last week, President Trump shared an AI-generated video portraying Russell Vought, the director for the Office of Management and Budget, as the grim reaper - seemingly predicting the end of many careers within the federal government if he follows through with his threat.