Trump Says He’d Meet Maduro at UN to ‘Save Lives’ of Venezuelans

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said he’d be willing to meet with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the United Nations this week if it would help alleviate its population’s suffering.

“So I would certainly be open to this,” Trump told reporters at the UN in New York ahead of his chairing of a meeting of the Security Council. “I’m willing to meet with anybody. Any time I can save lives.”

Maduro tweeted a clip of himself arriving in the U.S. ahead of his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, but didn’t say whether he would meet Trump.

Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June and has also indicated that he’d be willing to meet with Iranian leaders, though he made clear that it won’t happen at the UN this week. He’s also declined to rule out military intervention in Venezuela, whose economic collapse stokes a humanitarian crisis and mass migration.

“I just want to see Venezuela straightened out,” Trump said. “I want the people to be safe. We’re going to take care of Venezuela.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Washington at jepstein32@bloomberg.net;Matthew Bristow in Bogota at mbristow5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Matthew Bristow

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