Trump’s next eight targets after threat to ‘failing nations’

President Donald Trump has hinted at a wave of new military action against Latin American countries, shortly after launching a strike on Venezuela and arresting its president.

Speaking onboard Air Force One less than 48 hours after Nicolás Maduro’s detention, Trump hinted at who else might be on his target list, in what some are saying is a breakdown of the global order.

Trump also suggested he was considering further strikes on Venezuela, if the US is not granted adequate access to its oil reserves.

Venezuela

“Don’t ask me about who’s in charge [of Venezuela] because it will be controversial,” Trump said. “We’re in charge.”

Trump said he took action to prevent the flow of drugs into the US, and that it was a law-enforcement mission to force Maduro to face US criminal charges filed in 2020. But he has also been open about his desire to secure Venezuelan oil, saying US oil companies needed “total access” to the country’s vast reserves.

Venezuelan vice-president and Maduro ally Delcy Rodríguez has been appointed acting president, and Trump has already warned that “she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro”, if she “doesn’t do what’s right”.

Many scholars have questioned the legality of Trump’s move, with Matthew Waxman, a law professor at Columbia University specialising in national security law, saying that “a criminal indictment alone doesn’t provide authority to use military force to depose a foreign government”.

International law prohibits the use of force in international relations except for narrow exceptions such as authorisation by the UN Security Council or in self-defence.

And Trump might not stop there, having already suggested countries like Colombia and Mexico could be in his crosshairs.

Colombia

On Sunday, Trump threatened the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, saying the country was run by a “sick man who likes making cocaine and sending it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long”.

Trump added: “Operation Colombia sounds good to me.”

The US has already designated a notorious drug-trafficking organisation in Colombia a terrorist group, similar to a move in Venezuela.

Colombia signed a joint statement alongside five other countries, saying that the US’s military actions “constitute an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and endanger the civilian population”.

Cuba

The US President this weekend predicted Cuba’s government could soon collapse, saying: “Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall. I don’t know if they’re going to hold out.”

“Cuba only survives because of Venezuela,” he added, describing Cuba as a “failing nation”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also issued a thinly veiled threat, saying: “Look, if I lived in Havana and I worked in the government, I’d be concerned”.

Cuba said that 32 ⁠of its ​citizens – all members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence agencies – were killed during the US’s capture of Maduro.

Mexico

Trump has also floated action in Mexico, saying in a call to Fox News that “something will have to be done” about the country.

However, he suggested this would be done in tandem with the Mexican government, saying he had asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum if she wants the US military’s “help” in rooting out drug cartels.

Sheinbaum has criticised the capture of Maduro, suggesting it broke the UN charter.

Greenland

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invade Greenland, and said again this weekend that the US “needs” the autonomous Danish territory.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen said “that’s enough now”, describing US control over the island as a “fantasy”, while Denmark’s leader urged him to “stop the threats” over the island.

As well as posing another potential violation of international law, 85 per cent of Greenlanders oppose the move and a takeover would be catastrophic for the Nato military alliance, of which Denmark and the US are both members.

Iran

In June 2025, Trump carried out airstrikes on Iran, hitting three nuclear facilities.

The US operation in Venezuela has raised concerns that the White House could now feel emboldened to launch further attacks aimed at weakening or bringing about regime change in Iran.

Maduro was an ally of Iran, with expanding trade ties in recent years, and Tehran was quick to condemn his capture as “unlawful aggression”.

Shortly after Maduro’s capture, Israeli politician Yair Lapid said that the regime in Iran should pay close attention to what is happening in Venezuela.

Trump said last week that should Iranian authorities shoot and kill protesters, the US would “come to their rescue”, saying: “We are locked and loaded, and ready to go.”

He also said that if Iran attempts to build up its nuclear facilities, “we’re going to have to knock them down”.

Nigeria

Trump has already ordered intervention in Nigeria, with a wave of Christmas Day strikes against militants linked to the Isis terrorist group in the north-western of the country.

He said they were a “Christmas present” to the country and hasn’t ruled out further strikes.

Unlike some of his recent acts, the strikes were carried out in conjunction with Nigerian authorities, with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar describing them as a “joint operation” which had been planned “for quite some time” using intelligence provided by Nigeria.

Canada

Trump has repeatedly suggested making Canada the US’s 51st state.

While he has never threatened military action, the comments have included some coercion, including saying Ottawa could avoid higher taxes if Canada joined the US.

Others

The wider Latin American region could be within Trump’s sights, with the US President saying “American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again”.

Cuba warned that “all nations of the region must remain alert, as the threat hangs over all”.

Guyana recently discovered over 10 billion barrels of oil, making it another potential target of US interference.

Trump has been seeking to deepen trade ties with Bolovia, praising reforms in December and revealing that “US government officials are currently in Bolivia seeking to facilitate investments that will foster prosperity for both our nations.”

But some voters are already pushing back on greater US involvement, with Ecuador rejected the return of US military bases to the country in a referendum in November.