It was a mic drop moment when President Donald Trump dropped the f-bomb.
At a White House press event on Friday, featuring Trump’s Cabinet as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump brought proceedings to an abrupt close when a reporter asked a question about Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
And in the process, Trump delivered a message to Caracas — and to American rivals around the globe.
The moment — posted to social media by the official White House rapid response account — came when Trump was asked about Maduro’s effort to placate Trump in the face of increasing pressure from the American military.
That pressure has included attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels and Trump’s suggestion reported Thursday that strikes on Venezuelan soil are possible.
Maduro, the reporter said, had “offered everything.”
“He has offered everything,” Trump said. “He’s offered everything, you’re right. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to f*** around with the United States.”
.@POTUS on Maduro: “He has offered everything, you’re right. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to fuck around with the United States.” 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/EhG7Eeaq7P
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 17, 2025
Was Trump delivering a message to the world besides Venezuela?
And with that, Trump drew the meeting to a close.
(The video of the complete meeting is available on YouTube here. The Maduro question comes about the 37:35 mark.)
The offers to which the journalist referred were reported by The New York Times on Oct. 10.
The Venezuelan president, according to the newspaper, “offered to open up all existing and future oil and gold projects to American companies, give preferential contracts to American businesses, reverse the flow of Venezuelan oil exports from China to the United States, and slash his country’s energy and mining contracts with Chinese, Iranian and Russian firms.”
Trump “ended up rebuffing Mr. Maduro’s economic concessions,” according to the report.
With that background, and in the strict context of the question and answer on Friday, the message to Maduro was clear — messing with the U.S. is a very bad idea.
It’s a message Trump has already delivered in less verbal ways recently, such as by the presence of stealth fighter jets in Puerto Rico, just over 800 miles from the Venezuela coast. (The F-35’s top speed is well over 1,000 mph.)
But in the context of global politics, the same message went out to American rivals in Beijing and Moscow — and maybe even supposedly friendlier capitals like London and Paris.
It’s Maduro who’s on the hot seat now with Trump after exporting drugs, crime, and criminal gangs like Tren de Aragua to the United States.
The fact that the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is Venezuela’s top opposition leader, who dedicated the prize to the Venezuelan people as well as Trump, can’t be lost on anyone.
But Trump’s strategic combination of negotiation and belligerence since taking office — whether the target was NATO allies or the Islamic Republic of Iran — has made it obvious that his overriding interest is advancing the interests of the United States.
If Maduro is trying everything to avoid being in U.S. crosshairs in Venezuela, Trump’s answer suggested leaders around the globe should be taking a lesson.
They shouldn’t want to… mess around… with the United States either.
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