Dec 9 - U.S. President Donald Trump continued his threats of land strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers in an interview published on Tuesday as Trump administration officials prepared to brief top U.S. lawmakers amid mounting tensions.

The Republican president also told Politico that he could extend anti-drug military operations to Mexico and ‍Colombia, speaking ​in a wide-ranging interview that also took aim at Europe, including another call for Ukrainian ‍elections and support for Hungary's leader.

His comments, in an interview conducted Monday, reiterated much of his world view after releasing a sweeping U.S. strategy roadmap last week seeking ​to reframe the ​country's global role.

That National Security Strategy described a nation focused on reasserting itself in the Western Hemisphere while warning Europe that it must change course or face "erasure."

“They’re weak,” Trump told Politico, referring to Europe’s political leaders. “They want to be so politically correct.”

"They don’t know what to do,” ‍he added. “Europe doesn’t know what to do.”

In the Americas, Trump repeatedly declined to rule out sending American troops into Venezuela as part of an ​effort to bring down President Nicolas Maduro, saying he did not ⁠want to discuss military strategy: "I don’t want to rule in or out."

Asked if he would consider using force against targets in other countries where the drug trade is highly active, including Mexico and Colombia, he said: "I would.”

Later on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine and U.S. Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio are expected to brief congressional leaders and the heads of Congress' intelligence panels, sources told Reuters.

The briefing follows a months-long military campaign against alleged drug ‌boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that has come under intense &...