Trump says he 'knew nothing' about the Venezuela incursion

The US President said if he wanted to go into Venezuela he 'wouldn't make a secret about it'

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Greg Abbott, governor of Texas at the White House on Thursday, May 7, 2020. Bloomberg

President Donald Trump on Friday said again that the United States was not behind a failed covert plot in Venezuela allegedly involving two Americans. The US President added that if he did order an attack it would be an open "invasion."

"If I wanted to go into Venezuela I wouldn't make a secret about it," he said in an interview with Fox News.

"I'd go in and they would do nothing about it. They would roll over. I wouldn't send a small little group. No, no, no. It would be called an army," he said. "It would be called an invasion."

Leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government says the apparently botched plot was funded by US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido and that two former US special forces soldiers were among 17 people taken prisoner.

Another eight alleged attackers were killed in a shootout, the government says.

Mr Maduro has said the two Americans have "confessed their guilt."

"I know nothing about it. I think the government has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened," Mr Trump said. "If we ever did anything with Venezuela, it wouldn't be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion."

Mr Trump said the incursion "was not a good attack," carried out by a "rogue group" that included Venezuelans and "people from other countries."

"I saw the pictures on a beach. It wasn't led by General George Washington, obviously," he said, referring to the first US president, who is often considered a military genius.

A former US soldier captured in Venezuela has said he was contracted by a Florida security firm to seize control of Caracas' airport and bring in a plane to fly Mr Maduro to the United States. According to a document published by the Washington Post on Thursday, members of the country's opposition party negotiated a $213 million deal with the company, Silvercorp USA, to invade the country and overthrow Mr Maduro.