According to several US officials, the Trump administration has developed a range of options for military action in Venezuela, including direct attacks on military units protecting President Nicolás Maduro and measures to take control of the country's oil fields.

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President Trump has not yet decided how to proceed, or even if he will proceed at all. According to official sources, he is reluctant to approve operations that could endanger U.S. troops or result in an embarrassing failure. However, many of his top advisors are pushing for one of the most drastic options: overthrowing Mr. Maduro.

Mr. Trump's advisors have requested additional guidelines from the Justice Department that would provide a legal basis for any military action beyond the current campaign of attacks on vessels that the administration claims are trafficking narcotics, without providing any evidence. Such guidelines could include a legal justification for targeting Mr. Maduro without requiring congressional authorization for the use of military force, let alone a declaration of war.

Although the guidance is still being drafted, some government officials anticipate it will argue that Maduro and his top security advisors are key figures in the Cartel of the Suns, which the government has designated a narco-terrorist group. The Justice Department is expected to argue that this designation makes Maduro a legitimate target, despite long-standing U.S. legal prohibitions against assassinating national leaders.

The Justice Department declined to comment. However, the move to justify an attack against Mr. Maduro would constitute yet another attempt by the administration to expand its legal powers. It has already carried out targeted killings of suspected drug traffickers who, until September, were pursued and arrested at sea rather than killed in drone strikes. Any attempt to oust Mr. Maduro would subject the administration to greater scrutiny of any legal justification it offers, given the confusing mix of reasons it has presented thus far for confronting Mr. Maduro. These include drug trafficking, the need for the United States to have access to oil, and Mr. Trump’s claims that the Venezuelan government released prisoners in the United States.