It was one of the first signs of a possible path toward defusing an increasingly tense situation in the region as the US wages a campaign of deadly strikes against suspected drug trafficking boats off the Venezuelan coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Trump offered no further details about the possibility of talks with Maduro, whom the US has accused of ties to the illegal drug trade, which Maduro denies.

Earlier on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would designate an alleged drug organization, Cartel de los Soles, as a "foreign terrorist organization," which makes it a crime for anyone in the US to provide material support to the group.