President Donald Trump said the US attacked a facility inside Venezuela, which would be a significant escalation in his campaign against alleged drug trafficking operations there.

"There was a big explosion at the dock area where they were loading the ships with drugs," Trump told reporters on Monday, confirming comments from last week.

Trump's statement about the attack inside Venezuela would mark the first time the US has announced a ground offensive in the country. The US administration has been increasing pressure on the government of Nicolas Maduro by bombing ships in the region and imposing a blockade to disrupt the country's oil exports.

The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment on Trump's statement on Monday—unusually compared to its more vocal and defiant response to US interventions in the Caribbean in recent months.

Trump said he had spoken with Maduro "recently," but found the conversation unproductive.

"Not much came out of that phone call," he said.

The Pentagon directed a request for confirmation of the attack to the White House. The White House earlier on Monday did not respond to a request for comment on Trump's remarks in an interview last week, in which he first revealed the strike.

Trump said in a radio interview on Friday that the US had struck a target the day before Christmas.

"They have a large factory, or a large facility where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we destroyed it. So we hit them very hard," he said in the interview.

Trump has warned for weeks that he is ready to expand the military campaign to include strikes on land. (alg)

Source: Bloomberg