CARACAS– Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said the US government is waging a war against him as the world’s largest warship approaches the South American country.

In a national broadcast Friday night, Maduro accused President Donald Trump’s administration of “manufacturing a new forever war.”

The US government has increased pressure on Maduro by moving the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, which can hold up to 90 attack aircraft and helicopters, closer to Venezuela.

“They promised they would never get involved in a war again and they are manufacturing a war that we will avoid,” Maduro said. Trump has accused him, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organized crime gang Tren de Aragua.

“They are producing an extravagant, vulgar, criminal and totally false narrative,” Maduro added. “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaf.”

US forces have destroyed several ships off the Venezuelan coast, allegedly for their role in drug trafficking to the United States. At least 43 people died in those attacks.

Tren de Aragua, which has its roots in a Venezuelan prison, is not known for playing a major role in the global drug trade, but for its involvement in contract killings, extortion and human trafficking.

Maduro was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, and countries including the United States have called for him to leave.