U.S. President Donald Trump warned Nicolás Maduro, when asked why the Venezuelan leader should take him seriously, 'You can do whatever you want. That's fine. But if you act tough, it will be the last time you can act tough,' according to X posts over the past hour ending 4:45 a.m. UTC on Dec. 23. Separate X posts during the 59-minute reporting window from 3:45 a.m. UTC stated Maduro would 'play softly' and 'bow his head and behave well for four years' if needed to survive, quoting the assessment that 'Maduro is, then, going to play softly.' The remarks follow Trump's Dec. 23 statement to White House pooler Sam Waldenberg that U.S. forces will 'end up getting' a third sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker under pursuit off Venezuela's coast, as reported in the prior hour, amid ongoing U.S. naval blockade efforts targeting Venezuelan-linked vessels. This occurs against heightened U.S. military activity in the region, including Joint Task Force Southern Spear's strike on a narco vessel in the Eastern Pacific on Dec. 22 and F-35 flights over Puerto Rico, per U.S. Southern Command and regional reports from the previous reporting periods.
