By REGINA GARCIA CANO AND AAMER MADHANI | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Monday did not rule out military action against Venezuela despite bringing up a potential diplomatic opening with leader Nicolas Maduro, who has insisted that a U.S. military buildup and strikes on alleged drug boats near his South American country are designed to push him out of office.

Trump reiterated that he "probably would talk to" Maduro, but underscored that he is not taking off the table the possibility of military action on Venezuelan territory.

"I don't rule out that. I don't rule out anything," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office a day after he first floated the possibility of having "discussions" with Maduro. Trump, however, sidestepped questions about whether Maduro could say anything to him that would lead to the U.S. backing off its military show of force.

"He's done tremendous damage to our country," said Trump, tying Maduro to drugs and migrants coming into the U.S. from Venezuela.

The comments deepened the uncertainty about the Trump administration's next steps toward Maduro's government. The U.S. has ratcheted up the pressure in recent days, saying it was expecting to designate as a terrorist organization a cartel it says is led by Maduro and other high-level Venezuelan government officials.

The USS Gerald R. Ford and accompanying warships arrived in the Caribbean this weekend just as the U.S. military announced its latest in a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs.

The administration says its actions are a counterdrug operation meant to stop narcotics from flowing to American cities, but some analysts, Venezuelans and the country's political opposition see them as an escalating pressure tactic against Maduro.

The Trump administration has shown it "can turn policy on a dime," said Geoff Ramsey, an expert on U.S. policy toward Venezuela who is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He pointed to the diplomatic talks the administration held with Iran "right up until the point" that the U.S. military targeted Iran's nuclear facilities in June.