President Donald Trump has said that the US is prepared to deploy a “very big force” if ongoing negotiations with Iran fail.
"Well, in case we don't make a deal, we'll need it," Trump told reporters when asked why he decided to send a second aircraft carrier to the region.
"It'll be leaving. It'll be leaving very soon. We have one out there that just arrived. We have it ready. A big, a very big force," he added.
His remarks came after local media reported that the US would send the USS Gerald R. Ford to the Middle East to back up the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group.
Venezuela
Trump said that he plans to visit Venezuela, citing what he described as strong ties between the two countries and growing cooperation in the oil sector.
“I’m going to visit Venezuela. We haven’t decided (when),” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump praised relations with interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, saying Washington and Caracas are “working together very closely,” particularly on energy.
“We have a very good relationship,” he said, adding that major US oil companies are operating in the country and that the partnership is generating significant revenue.
“The relationship we have right now with Venezuela is, I would say, a 10.”
Asked whether the US recognises Rodriguez’s administration as Venezuela’s official government, Trump responded, “We have done that. We’re dealing with them.”
He said oil production is on the rise and that the US is refining Venezuelan crude, describing the relationship as “strong”.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited the South American country this week to assess its oil industry and hold talks with the interim government centred on a massive overhaul of the country’s energy sector to revitalise its economy and reintegrate its oil reserves into the global market.
Wright’s high-profile visit to Venezuela follows a political shift on January 3, when US forces abducted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a raid in Caracas and transported them to New York, where they are being held in a federal detention facility.
