Trump threatens 'incalculable price' if Maduro fails to take back migrants from US

Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald on Sep 20, 2025

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President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to the Nicolás Maduro regime on Saturday, demanding that it immediately accept the return of criminals and mentally ill individuals who he said were released from Venezuelan prisons and asylums and sent to the United States.

Trump warned that failure to comply would have devastating consequences.

“We want Venezuela to immediately accept all prisoners and people from mental institutions — including those from the worst asylums in the world — that the Venezuelan ‘leadership’ has forced into the United States of America,” the president wrote on his Truth Social account. “Thousands of people have been been badly hurt and even killed by these ‘Monsters.’ GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF OUR COUNTRY, RIGHT NOW, OR THE PRICE YOU PAY WILL BE INCALCULABLE!”

Trump’s statement does not detail any concrete mechanism to enforce repatriation, nor does it specify legal, humanitarian or security procedures for identifying and transferring the individuals he mentioned. It also offers no verifiable figures, names of institutions or documentation to support the direct attribution of responsibility to the Venezuelan “leadership” for sending criminals and people from mental institutions to the U.S.

The threat comes amid already tense relations between Washington and Caracas, which have deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks following Trump’s decision to deploy a massive naval force near Venezuela’s shores to combat drug cartels.

The administration has increasingly framed its anti-narcotics campaign as a key national defense priority and has accused Maduro and senior officials in his regime of running a large and dangerous drug-trafficking network. The Venezuelan strongman has repeatedly denied the accusation, saying it is merely an excuse to justify regime change in the South American country.

The U.S. accuses Maduro of leading the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” an organization embedded within the Venezuelan armed forces that U.S. authorities suspect exports between 350 and 500 tons of cocaine annually. The Trump administration has offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on drug-trafficking charges in the U.S., and $25 million rewards for each of several of his top officials.

The U.S. military deployment includes eight powerful warships — some with amphibious assault capability — F-35 fighter jets and approximately 4,500 troops, including at least 2,000 Marines. It is the largest display of U.S. force in the Caribbean in decades.

So far, Trump has said U.S. forces in the Caribbean have launched lightning strikes against four vessels allegedly transporting drugs to the United States. In three of those announcements, the president said the vessels came out of Venezuela.

According to Trump, the operations have resulted in the deaths of 17 suspected drug traffickers.

The use of lethal force against vessels allegedly used to transport drugs has raised concerns among legal experts and human rights advocates, who warn that these actions pose serious questions under international law.

Critics note that the targets appear to be civilians and argue that lethal force is permissible only when individuals pose an imminent threat and no other means exist to prevent harm.