President Trump is doubling the U.S. government's bounty for the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. 

The $50 million reward was announced by attorney general Pam Bondi, who accused Maduro of exporting deadly drugs and criminals to the United States to cause destruction.

The bounty threat adds to pressure against the regime in Venezuela, which has been under Maduro's iron-fisted rule for over a decade.

$50 million bounty

The dire economic and political conditions in the country have fueled an exodus of immigrants to the United States, some of whom have gone on to commit brutal acts of violence against Americans.

The Trump administration has invoked wartime powers to deport Venezuelan gang members in Tren de Aragua, which the White House has called a proxy of the Maduro regime. The Trump administration considers transnational criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua to be terrorist groups.

"Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country," Bondi said.

According to Bondi, the federal government has seized "30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself".

"To date, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself," she added.

"Cocaine is often laced with fentanyl, resulting in the loss and destruction of countless American lives."

Reign of terror

The United States has long rejected the legitimacy of Maduro's government, and both of his re-election victories in 2018 and 2024 are widely considered to be fraudulent.

The first Trump administration brought charges against Maduro in New York for narcoterrorism and set a $15 million bounty, which was raised to $25 million during the Biden administration. The U.S. has seized $700 million of his assets including two planes, but his "reign of terror continues," Bondi said.

"Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes," she said.

The Maduro regime dismissed Bondi's threat as "crude propaganda" and invoked the Jeffrey Epstein controversy, which has consumed Bondi since the Justice Department announced in early July that Epstein did not have list of clients.

"Her show is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own misery," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said.

According to reports, Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare to protect the homeland by targeting the Latin American cartels, which would be a major shift in defense policy after years of U.S. involvement in distant conflicts.