The United States will not allow Russia to take over a Western Hemisphere country through "their surrogates, the Cubans," National Security Adviser John Bolton said Wednesday.
"That is why President [Donald] Trump [Tuesday] suggested that the Cubans don't get off the body politic in Venezuela they will [suffer] consequence of their own," Bolton told Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "It is a struggle by the people of Venezuela to get control of their government, but it is also a struggle to free themselves from the colonizers from Cuba."
There is no indication if or when Trump will speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Venezuelan situation. After show anchor Brian Kilmeade asked Bolton if Trump had spoken to Putin, or if Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had spoken with his counterpart, Russian Secretary of State Sergey Lavrov, Bolton replied "a call, for Mike, is scheduled for [Wednesday]."
However, Bolton later argued with CNN's "New Day" the call was to be between Pompeo and Lavrov, not Trump and Putin themselves, after CNN referred to a transcript from the Fox interview that had said "a call is scheduled for [Wednesday]," with the Pompeo reference not appearing in the transcript from the show.
Tuesday night, Trump threatened Cuba with sanctions and an embargo, and Bolton on Wednesday said if Russia continues to ignore the United States' demands, they "will do that at their own cost."
If opposition leader Juan Guaido takes power, Bolton said he expects to see an opening for foreign investment and a chance for Venezuela's economy to recover.
Meanwhile, steps already have been taken against Cuba, Bolton said, including stopping the transfer of oil from Venezuela to the island nation, which will "put an enormous squeeze on the Cuban economy."
He also said the Trump administration does not intend to allow Venezuela to become another Syria situation and insisted sanctions are working.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.