Trump says willing to meet with Maduro, but keeps ‘all options’ open

President Trump said Wednesday that he is open to meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but warned that “all options are on the table.”

“I would certainly be open to it, I’m willing to meet with anybody,” Trump said as he arrived at the United Nations headquarters, according to Reuters. “If he’s here and he wants to meet, it was not on my mind, it was not on my plate, but if I can help people that’s what I’m here for.”

Still, Trump left the door open to more aggressive action.

“All options are on the table, every one,” he said Wednesday, according to Reuters. “The strong ones and the less than strong ones and you know what I mean by strong. Every option is on the table with respect to Venezuela.”

{mosads} Venezuelans have suffered under Maduro and many are now fleeing, as inflation runs at 200,000 percent and those left behind struggle to obtain basic foods and medicines. 

Maduro has also cracked down on the opposition-run legislature, limiting its powers and jailing politicians who disagree with him. 

To counteract the dissenting legislator, Maduro has created a parallel body with unlimited powers. 

Trump reportedly asked his senior advisers about invading Venezuela last year, the Associated Press had reported in July, citing a senior administration official, though the discussion reportedly did not amount to any formal plan to invade the country and was merely a discussion on the option.

Trump took aim at the country in remarks Tuesday, calling it “one of the truly bad places in the world today.”

The Treasury Department also leveled sanctions on four members of Maduro’s inner circle Tuesday, including his wife and vice president.

Last month, Defense Secretary James Mattis announced that America would deploy a U.S. Navy hospital ship to the Columbian coast to help those fleeing Venezuela.

The U.N. estimates that 2.3 million Venezuelans fled as of June and more are still running from the country.