Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro said Wednesday that he had a “respectful and cordial” phone call with President Donald Trump earlier in the week, a description first reported by Reuters after days of speculation about behind-the-scenes contact.

Maduro told reporters in Caracas that the call lasted several minutes and included an exchange about the possibility of future dialogue, echoing his earlier comments to El País in which he insisted the tone was “respect and cordiality,” even as tensions with the United States intensify.

The White House has confirmed that Trump and Maduro spoke, as reported by Reuters in a separate dispatch quoting the president aboard Air Force One, but it has not endorsed Maduro’s characterization of the call or offered its own description of the tone.

The outreach also tracks with late-November reporting from WLRN, the Miami-based public radio outlet focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, which said Trump had spoken with Maduro and floated the idea of an eventual in-person meeting as part of what aides described as a strategy of “direct pressure and direct communication.”

Senior U.S. officials said the president believes speaking to Maduro does not weaken Washington’s posture but instead reinforces Trump’s ability to combine personal diplomacy with escalating military and economic pressure.

That pressure has accelerated sharply since October, with U.S. warships conducting interdictions against vessels suspected of ferrying narcotics for networks tied to elements of the Venezuelan state, operations referenced in U.S. naval statements.

The Pentagon has also launched targeted strikes on boats in the eastern Caribbean that U.S. officials say were moving weapons to armed groups, a campaign reported widely by outlets tracking the administration’s regional operations.

The stepped-up operations have begun to draw pushback on Capitol Hill, where a small bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers is moving to impose new War Powers limits on the White House, seeking to require congressional approval for any further escalation of U.S. military activity in the region.

Trump has insisted that Venezuelan state actors have enabled “criminal cartels and terrorist affiliates” operating off the country’s coast, and he has vowed publicly that the United States “will not tolerate” these groups’ activities, comments cited in CBS News coverage of Washington’s warnings toward Caracas.

Maduro has responded by accusing the president of threatening Venezuelan sovereignty, a charge he repeated during a mid-November rally where he brandished a ceremonial sword and vowed to defend “every inch” of the nation, remarks documented by Time magazine last month.

The Venezuelan president has ordered increased military patrols around key ports and announced heightened readiness for air-defense units, moves meant to counter what Caracas calls U.S. “aggressions.”

Even as he escalated his rhetoric, Maduro continued to emphasize the idea of dialogue, telling UPI in November that Venezuela “will remain at peace” and that those seeking talks “will talk face-to-face,” positioning himself as a leader willing to negotiate despite ongoing pressure.

Administration officials countered that Maduro’s sudden change is a tactical bid to buy time and relieve international isolation, and they argued that the president’s mix of pressure and personal outreach is forcing Maduro to soften his posture.

Diplomats across the region say the juxtaposition of Maduro’s friendly characterization of the call and his accusations against the United States underscores the unstable diplomatic track the two nations are now on.

Analysts note that the Trump administration sees the call not as a thaw but as evidence that aggressive pressure is drawing a reaction, a view supported by officials who argue Maduro would not have acknowledged the conversation without feeling the weight of U.S. actions.

The result is a striking contrast in messages, with Maduro publicly praising the tone of a phone call even as Washington continues to escalate its campaign and insists Caracas remains responsible for what U.S. officials call “state-protected criminality.”