(DCNF)—Fox News host Will Cain asked Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez on Monday how toppling Venezuela’s socialist dictator, Nicolas Maduro, would help the United States.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would not “rule out” any options for dealing with Venezuela when asked by a reporter about the possibility of sending in ground troops. Gimenez said on “The Will Cain Show” that he believes Trump is ramping up America’s military presence near Venezuela because the president “wants Maduro out,” leading Cain to ask him to explain how that goal “serves America first interests.”

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“Well, America first interests is protection of the American people. And so what is more important than protecting the American people to make sure our adversaries don’t have a foothold in our own hemisphere?” Gimenez asked. “The Russians are here, the Chinese are here, the North Koreans are here, the Iranians are here, and all that, they’re being facilitated by the regime in Venezuela, in Nicaragua, in Cuba, and other places.”

“They’re spreading their brand of narco-terrorism, socialism, communism, around our hemisphere. And pretty soon we’re going to find ourselves alone in our own hemisphere,” he continued. “What could be more America first than that? Protecting our interests in our own hemisphere?”

The U.S. has an unprecedented array of military forces and assets now available in the southern Caribbean, sparking speculation that the Trump administration would soon go kinetic to remove Maduro from power.

Trump, who campaigned on ending foreign wars, has alleged that Maduro is facilitating the illegal drug trade and enabling cartels in his country. The Trump administration is set to designate Venezuelan-based Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) a foreign terrorist organization, a criminal syndicate with links to the dictator.

“Neither Maduro nor his cronies represent Venezuela’s legitimate government,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a Sunday press release. “Cartel de los Soles by and with other designated FTOs including Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel are responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe.”

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