US President Donald Trump confirmed that he had spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but did not provide details on what the two leaders discussed.
"I don't want to comment on it. The answer is yes," Mr Trump said when asked if he had spoken with Mr Maduro. He was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.
The New York Times first reported Mr Trump had spoken with Mr Maduro earlier this month and discussed a possible meeting between them in the United States.
"I wouldn't say it went well or badly, it was a phone call," Mr Trump said regarding the conversation.
The revelation of the phone call comes as President Trump continues to use bellicose rhetoric regarding Venezuela, while also entertaining the possibility of diplomacy.
On Saturday, Mr Trump said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety," but gave no further details, stirring anxiety and confusion in Venezuela as his administration ramps up pressure on Mr Maduro's government.
When asked whether his airspace comments meant strikes against Venezuela were imminent, Mr Trump said: "Don't read anything into it."
The Trump administration has been weighing Venezuela-related options to combat what it has portrayed as Mr Maduro's role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans.
The Venezuelan president has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.
Human rights groups have condemned the strikes as illegal extrajudicial killings of civilians, and some US allies have expressed growing concerns that the United States may be violating international law.
Mr Trump said he would look into whether the US military had carried out a second strike in the Caribbean that killed survivors during a September operation, adding he would not have wanted such a strike.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the strikes are lawful but are intended to be "lethal."
Mr Trump told military service members last week the US would "very soon" begin land operations to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.
Mr Maduro and senior members of his administration have not commented on the call.
Asked about it yesterday, Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly, said the call was not the topic of his press conference, where he announced an investigation into US boat strikes in the Caribbean.
Trump says US freeze on asylum decisions will last 'a long time'
Meanwhile, Mr Trump said his administration intends to maintain a pause on asylum decisions for "a long time" after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard members near the White House, killing one of them.
When asked to specify how long it would last, Mr Trump said he had "no time limit" in mind for the measure, which the Department of Homeland Security says is linked to a list of 19 countries already facing US travel restrictions.
The Trump administration issued the pause in the aftermath of the shooting in Washington on 26 November, that left 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom dead and another guardsman critically wounded.
Read more: Trump says Venezuela airspace should be considered closed
A 29-year-old Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder in connection with the incident.
Lakanwal had been part of a CIA-backed "partner force" fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, and entered the United States as part of a resettlement programme following the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Lakanwal had been granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, but officials have blamed what they called lax vetting by the government of Mr Trump's predecessor Joe Biden for his admission to US soil during the Afghan airlift.
Mr Trump wrote after the shooting that he planned to "permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover."
Asked which nationalities would be affected, the Department of Homeland Security pointed AFP to a list of 19 countries - including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Iran and Myanmar - which since June have all faced travel restrictions to the United States.
