Maduro enters not guilty plea in New York City court: Live updates

Top White House aide Stephen Miller on Monday characterized the US’ involvement in Venezuela as an “ongoing military operation,” contradicting the administration’s earlier contention that capturing Nicolás Maduro was a law enforcement action.

“This is an active and ongoing US military operation,” he told reporters at the White House. “And so of course, we set the terms and conditions.”

Miller’s characterization is at odds with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s description of the decision to capture Maduro, which he characterized over the weekend as an isolated law enforcement matter tied to a US indictment against the ousted Venezuelan president.

On Monday, Miller cast the US as fully in charge of Venezuela largely because of the threat of further military force.

“We have a massive fleet, our armada, still present there,” he said.