Trump threatens Iran with ‘Bigger’ retaliation than his daring Venezuela raid that removed Maduro

US President Donald Trump has threatened Iran with a ‘bigger’ retaliation than his daring Venezuela raid that removed Maduro, a White House Correspondent has reported.

Jacqui Heinrich, senior White House correspondent and co-host of The Sunday Briefing on Fox News, said on X that she spoke with Trump on Saturday about America’s growing naval presence in the Middle East and his plans for intervention.

The President told Heinrich that while he couldn’t reveal specific military plans to allies or the media, his aim was to force Tehran into a deal.

‘Well, we can’t tell them the plan. If I told them the plan, it would be almost as bad as telling you the plan – it could be worse, actually,’ he said.

‘But look, the plan is that [Iran is] talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something, otherwise we’ll see what happens… We have a big fleet heading out there, bigger than we had – and still have, actually – in Venezuela.’

Trump was referring to the warships and thousands of US troops massed in the Caribbean ahead of Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3, which saw US special forces raid Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s home and extract him and his wife, Cilia Flores, to the US.

On Iran, Heinrich put to Trump that America’s Gulf Allies had been skeptical about Iran’s intentions in wanting to hold talks, and what could come of it.

‘We’ll see what happens,’ the President said. ‘You know, the last time they negotiated, we had to take out their nuclear, didn’t work, you know. Then we took it out a different way, and we’ll see what happens.’

Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani reported Saturday that progress was being made toward talks despite a major US military deployment to the region, France24 reported.

‘Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing,’ Larijani said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also issued a statement on Saturday in which he confirmed he told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that Tehran was not seeking a conflict with the US as it would not benefit either side.

‘The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war and it is firmly convinced that a war would be in the interest of neither Iran, nor the United States, nor the region,’ he said.

Officials have also reported that an explosion in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, which some had feared could be foreign attacks, was caused by a gas leak. The blast killed at least one person and injured 14 others.

This comes as satellite images revealed renewed activity at the Iranian nuclear sites bombed by the United States and Israel last year.

Images taken by Planet Labs PBC captured roofs being built over two damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz facilities which were left devastated last June, which experts have suggested is for the sake of obscuring activity rather than repair or rebuilding.

The coverings block satellites from observing activity on the ground, which is currently the only way the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can monitor the sites.

Trump has repeatedly demanded that Iran negotiate a deal over its nuclear program and threatened to send an ‘armada’ to the countrym On Wednesday, the US President wrote on Truth Social: ‘A massive Armada is heading to Iran, It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose.’

He called last year’s strikes ‘a major destruction of Iran’ and also warned: ‘The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again.’

Last summer, Trump ordered Operation Midnight Hammer to target Tehran’s nuclear facilities after weeks of Israel and Iran exchanging missiles.