On Sunday, the Venezuelan government issued a letter saying that left-wing Maduro had sent to Trump.
In the missaib, Maduro rejected it as an “absolutely false” US allegation that he was leading a drug cartel, urging Trump to “maintain peace.”
In response Monday, White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said Maduro’s letter contained “a lot of lies.”
She added that the Trump administration’s position on Venezuela has “unchanged” and viewed the administration as “illegal.”
The US deployment has been the largest in the Caribbean for years.
Maduro accused Trump of trying to influence the change of administration.
His defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, accused the US of “undeclared war” in the Caribbean last week, claiming that drug ship residents were “executed without the right to defense.”
Thousands of Venezuelans joined the civilian militia in response to Maduro’s call to strengthen the defense of the country, which is bound by cash.
However, some Venezuelans welcome US action, hoping to speed up Maduro’s downfall.
rhm/