U.S. President Donald Trump said on October 30 (local time) that he "thinks there's a good chance" for a deal to end the war in Ukraine to be reached shortly after high-level talks between the United States and Ukraine held in Florida.

According to White House pool reporters, President Trump made these remarks aboard his plane en route to Washington D.C. from Florida, in response to questions from White House correspondents about the day's discussions.

President Trump also pointed out that "Ukraine has some very tricky issues," and mentioned a "corruption scandal" within the Ukrainian government, stating it's a "corruption problem that is not good for negotiations."

The U.S. and Ukraine held high-level consultations on a peace deal in Florida on this day.

While both sides described the talks as "productive," U.S. chief negotiator Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed a cautious stance, stating that there is still more work to be done.

President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is scheduled to travel to Moscow next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In addition, President Trump confirmed that he recently had a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but said he would not comment on whether the "call was good or bad."

However, when asked if his pressure for Venezuela to close its airspace meant a U.S. attack on Venezuela was imminent, he responded, "Don't read anything into it."

President Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on October 29, "To all airlines and pilots, drug traffickers, and human traffickers. Please consider all airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed."

President Trump denied any involvement in media reports that U.S. forces sank a vessel suspected of being a "drug runner" in the Caribbean, and then, under the orders of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, further attacked and killed two survivors.

President Trump stated, "I will look into that," while also saying that Hegseth claims he did not order the killing of the survivors and that he trusts him.

When asked if the "second attack" was legal, he replied, "I wouldn't have wanted that" (referring to the second attack), adding, "the first attack was very lethal."

However, he defended the military operation in the Caribbean itself, saying, "Every one of those boats is responsible for killing 25,000 Americans (due to drug smuggling). So, I think they're doing an amazing job."

Following the repeated sinking of vessels by U.S. forces in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, there are objections that the drug trafficking or armament of these vessels is uncertain, and in addition to controversies over violations of international law in ship attacks, there are also controversies over the illegality of the further attack on survivors.

Regarding President Trump's statement on October 26 that he would halt immigration to the U.S. from "countries of concern" in the Third World, following the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House, he said there is "no time limit" and expressed his intention to suspend the acceptance of asylum seekers for "a long time."

He emphasized this by citing a refugee from Somalia among the 19 so-called "countries of concern" identified by the government, saying, "They come into our country and they tell us how to run our country. We don't want them."

Somali refugees primarily reside in Minnesota. President Trump has previously criticized Ilhan Omar, a Democrat and the first Somali-born member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat and former Democratic vice-presidential candidate, from this region, which is a strong Democratic stronghold.

President Trump returning to Washington D.C. AFP Yonhap NewsYonhap News