(JEWISH VOICE NEWS) President Donald Trump has privately told advisers he intends to open a direct line of communication with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to Axios, which cited senior administration officials in its reporting on Monday.

The revelation comes even as the Trump administration continues ramping up military assets in the Caribbean, targeting boats in the region, and selectively leaking information that points to possible preparations for a regime-change campaign in Venezuela. Yet Axios reported that Trump has lately shown a renewed interest in diplomacy after previously cutting off dialogue with Maduro’s government. “I see a diplomatic solution as being very likely,” one Trump adviser told Axios.

What remains unclear, however, is what sort of negotiated outcome Trump would accept—particularly one that does not require Maduro to willingly relinquish power, something widely viewed as an unrealistic expectation. According to Axios, Maduro has already floated an offer that would grant U.S. companies greater access to Venezuela’s vast natural resources and scale back Caracas’ ties with China, Russia, and Iran. The administration rejected that proposal. Despite tensions, Venezuela has continued cooperating with Washington on deportations of Venezuelan nationals.

Officials who spoke with Axios emphasized that Trump’s interest in potential talks signals that missile strikes on Venezuela are not imminent. Still, they said U.S. operations against what the administration describes as drug-running vessels in the region are expected to continue. “Nobody is planning to go in and shoot him or snatch [Maduro]—at this point,” one official said. “I wouldn’t say never, but that’s not the plan right now.”

Another U.S. official, pushing back on the idea that escalating tensions stem primarily from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, described Trump himself as the most aggressive voice on Venezuela. “The hawk in Venezuela is Donald Trump, followed by [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller, followed by Marco Rubio,” the official told Axios.

The Axios report surfaced the same day the State Department laid down what critics consider a potential pretext for future military action by designating the so-called “Cartel of the Suns”—a group widely regarded by experts as nonexistent—as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.