The White House rebuffed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s proposal for direct discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, aiming to ease the escalating rift between the longtime adversaries.

The rejection unfolded amid support from two prominent Venezuelan opposition figures for a U.S. naval buildup off the nation’s coast, which they described as essential to reviving democratic governance.

Trump has sent eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean as part of an anti-narcotics mission, which Venezuela suspects may signal preparations for a potential incursion.

In recent weeks, U.S. forces have sunk at least three boats believed to be involved in Venezuelan drug trafficking, resulting in the deaths of more than a dozen individuals.

On Sunday, Venezuelan authorities published a letter Maduro had addressed to Trump.

In it, Maduro—whose July 2024 reelection bid was widely disputed as rigged by domestic opponents and global observers—denied U.S. claims that he heads a narcotics syndicate as completely baseless and called on Trump to “keep the peace.”

Reacting on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Maduro’s letter contained “a lot of lies.”

She added the Trump administration’s position on Venezuela “has not changed,” and it viewed the regime as “illegitimate.”

The US deployment is the biggest in the Caribbean in years.

Maduro has accused Trump — who during his first term tried unsuccessfully to expedite the Venezuelan president’s ouster — of trying to effect regime change.

It was “a first letter, I will certainly send them more,” Maduro said Monday night during his weekly television program, during which he said his goal was “to defend the truth of Venezuela.”

“If they close a door, you open a window, and if they close a window, you open a door with the truth of your country, lighting up the world, illuminating the White House with the light of the truth of Venezuela,” he added.

Maduro’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, last week accused the United States of waging “an undeclared war” in the Caribbean, underlining that occupants of alleged drug boats were “executed without the right to a defense.”

Thousands of Venezuelans have joined a civilian militia in response to Maduro’s call for bolstering the cash-strapped country’s defenses.

Some Venezuelans have welcomed the US actions; however, they hope they hasten Maduro’s downfall.

Big Threat?

Exiled presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who the United States views as Venezuela’s democratically elected leader, said the military deployment was “a necessary measure to dismantle the criminal structure” he said Maduro leads.

Opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado agreed, and said Venezuelan crime gangs were “a real and growing threat to the security and stability” of the Americas.

Maduro’s claim to election victory last year sparked violent protests that were harshly repressed, leaving more than two dozen dead and hundreds behind bars.

The opposition said its own tally of results showed Gonzalez Urrutia, who stood in after the regime barred Machado from running, had defeated Maduro hands down.

Threatened with arrest, Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Spain. Machado remains in Venezuela, in hiding.

Another opposition figure, Henrique Capriles, last week came out against any US invasion.

“I continue to believe that the solution is not military, but political,” the two-time presidential candidate said, adding that Trump’s actions were counterproductive and “entrenching those in power.”

Earlier, Venezuela flaunted its Russian Su-30 Mk2 jets armed with Kh-31 anti-ship missiles in response to the US naval activities in the Caribbean.

Venezuela deployed the Russian-origin jets in a three-day military drill in the Caribbean amid rising tensions with the US over the latter’s anti-drug operations in the region.

Dubbed “Sovereign Caribbean 200,” the drills kicked off on September 18 at the island of La Orchila. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on national television that the exercises were a response by Venezuela to the US warships deployed to the region.

After the US conducted the first strike, two Venezuelan F-16A/B fighters flew over a US Navy destroyer, USS Jason Dunham, on September 4. Thus, the deployment of Su-30Mk2 fighters after the second strike appears to be in line with Venezuela’s strategy of warning the US.

Earlier, Venezuela released images of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets equipped with anti-ship missiles. These fighters could seriously threaten US warships cruising in Caribbean waters.

The Bolivarian Military Aviation, as the Venezuelan Air Force is known, released a video of the aircraft on Instagram. The footage first shows the Su-30Mk2 on the ground with the missiles dangling from the wings, and then in flight.

The post accompanying the visuals of the jets seen in the video was the Russian Sukhoi Su-30 MK2 fighters from the 13th “Lions” Fighter Air Group, armed with Russian Kh-31 anti-ship missiles.

However, the CNN confirmed that at least a part of this video had already been published in 2024, adding that there was no confirmation on when the rest of the footage was shot.