Venezuela’s Strongman Is Trying—and Failing—to Appease Trump

Maduro has sent Trump a letter promising to produce data showing his country doesn’t traffic drugs. He has accepted thousands of Venezuelan migrants from the U.S., after rejecting the idea under former President Joe Biden. And he has asked Pope Leo XIV to “help Venezuela preserve peace and stability,” noting his country faces history’s greatest power.

This week, the regime claimed it was protecting the closed U.S. Embassy in Caracas from assault, without saying who could be responsible.

So far, the Trump administration has rejected the entreaties, continuing with attacks on alleged drug boats and openly displaying a naval buildup that hasn’t been seen in the Caribbean in decades. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and officials in the White House have characterized Maduro as an illegitimate president with no future in America’s backyard.

Some top U.S. officials have been advocating for an operation to remove Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela with an iron hand since 2013, administration officials and people familiar with the deliberations said. And Trump himself has told reporters he is willing to resume the strikes on boats, at least four of which have been reported since the start of September.

Rubio has called the Venezuelan regime a cartel flooding the U.S. with cocaine—an assertion the U.S. has made while doubling a bounty on Maduro’s head to $50 million. Trump has “made clear he’s not going to allow cartels, that cartel or any other cartel, to operate with impunity in our hemisphere,” the secretary of state told Fox News last month.

In response to the rhetoric from Washington and the deployment of American warships, Maduro and his top lieutenants have assured their followers that Venezuela’s military is in a state of readiness. On Wednesday, Maduro said on social media that militia members and the armed forces were activated to protect two strategically important states, La Guaira and Carabobo.

“We will, step by step, fine-tune the military machinery of this powerful national movement, defending our peace, our sovereignty and our right to the future,” Maduro said.

At the same time, Maduro is trying to signal to the U.S. that he wants to negotiate an end to the showdown. Gone are the fiery denunciations from just a few weeks ago attacking American imperialism and touting his courage.

In his letter to Trump in the days after the first strike on an alleged drug vessel, Maduro told his U.S. counterpart that he was sending “compelling data on drug production and drug trafficking…that demonstrates that Venezuela is a territory free of drug production.”

He rejected the Trump administration’s claims that his country plays a major role in drug trafficking, asserting that just 5% of drugs produced in Colombia are shipped through Venezuela and that 70% of those are neutralized and destroyed by Venezuelan authorities.

U.S. officials say Venezuelan regime figures have benefited from the drug trade and allowed armed groups to operate in the country.

Still, in the midst of the unprecedented U.S. military strikes and agitations about regime change from Trump allies, the two continue to quietly cooperate on one of Trump’s signature policies, deporting Venezuelan migrants from American cities.

Maduro’s government has continued to take in flights of deportees, according to an analysis shared by ICE Flight Monitor, a group that tracks and publishes data on U.S. deportation flights. Venezuela has received more than 10,000 Venezuelans on 58 flights from the U.S. since February. Nine of those have landed since the first strike in early September.

An official familiar with that issue said recently that Venezuela has remained “one of the best relationships” the U.S. has had on deportations. The official said talks continue with the Venezuelan regime on various issues.

The U.S. also hasn’t yanked the license that allows Chevron to pump oil in Venezuela—one of the country’s most important sources of revenue.

“You could argue that all of this happening is a de facto recognition of the [Venezuelan] government,” said Michael Shifter, a senior scholar at the Inter-American Dialogue policy group in Washington. “At the same time Rubio is saying it’s an illegitimate government and Maduro is a narco terrorist, they’re still dealing with the regime.”

In Venezuela, life has continued much as it has through recent years, with people trying to survive high inflation and find work.

Carlos Torrealba tries to make ends meet selling cigarettes in the streets of the capital, Caracas.

“Things are very bad, I can’t make enough money for a dignified life,” he said. “And you have to make $30 or $40 a day to survive.”

There are those who are defiant—and stand with Maduro. Irelis Martiez, who serves as a member of the citizen militia, said “we have to defend ourselves against attack.”

“You have to be prepared,” she said. “We, Venezuelans, have been kind to the world. We’re not used to war. Sadly, we see what happens in other countries at war. There are many people ready to fight, whether they’re with the government or not.”

Write to Juan Forero at juan.forero@wsj.com and Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com