WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump told NBC News that war remains possible with Venezuela, a country whose leadership he labeled a terrorist regime and which he has targeted militarily because of alleged drug smuggling. "I don’t rule it out, no," Trump told NBC on Dec. 18 in a phone interview.

In President Donald Trump’s telling, a land strike on Venezuela could come “soon.” He’s been saying that since mid-September. In that time, he’s publicly hinted or outright promised US military action on land at least 17 times, according to a CNN analysis of his appearances.

In an exclusive phone interview with NBC News, Trump talked about his offensive against Venezuela, his plan for health care and his outlook for the midterm elections.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, according to an interview with NBC News published on Friday.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has said that President Donald Trump's threats against his nation are "simply a warmongering and colonialist pretense." Speaking in Caracas on Wednesday, he said that Trump's aim was regime change to impose a "puppet government that wouldn't last 47 hours,

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

Sixty-three percent of respondents told Quinnipiac they are against military action against Caracas, with just 25 percent expressing support.

The president has shied away from endorsing regime change, leaving some aides unsure about his ultimate goal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decried the “status quo” with the Maduro government as “intolerable” as the Trump administration on Friday announced new sanctions on family members of the embattled Venezuelan leader.