By Kylie Atwood, Alayna Treene, Jennifer Hansler, Kristen Holmes, CNN

(CNN) — Months into a pressure campaign that has seen the US military move thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean and President Donald Trump issue repeated threats against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro,?the Trump?administration is working on day-after plans in the event Maduro is ousted from power, according to two senior administration officials and another source familiar with the discussions.

The plans are being quietly drafted and closely held at the White House, the sources said.

They include?multiple options for what?US action could look like to fill the power vacuum and stabilize the country if Maduro?voluntarily leaves as part of a negotiated departure?or?is?forced?into leaving after US strikes on targets inside Venezuela?or other direct action,?the sources said.

Publicly officials have said that the goal?of the military buildup in the Caribbean and the drug boat strikes is to drive?down the?flow of drugs into the US,?but the?internal planning is a clear signal of?Trump’s?consideration of?forcing?out Maduro, which administration officials have privately acknowledged.

CNN has reported that Trump has not made a decision as to how he will resolve the standoff, and there are multiple factions within the administration with sharply contrasting views on potential military or covert action to remove Maduro. While Trump has repeatedly threatened an escalation, including land strikes, two senior administration officials said there was no appetite for ramped up US engagement in the country.

Trump?spoke by phone with Maduro late last month, just days before the?US designation of Maduro and his government allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization went into effect. A senior White House official said that while the call was not necessarily contentious, the president did give something of an ultimatum to the dictator, telling him that it was in Maduro’s best interest to leave the country and that Trump intended to keep “blowing up” boats.

Trump has refused to rule out directly participating in regime change, and the planning by those at the White House Council preserves his options.

“It’s the job of the federal government to always prepare for plans A, B and C,”?said a senior administration official, noting that the president would not be making the threats he’s making if he did not have a team ready with a series of options for any potential outcome.

Another source familiar with the planning said that it is “the responsibility of the US government to prepare for all scenarios around the world that may or may not unfold.” The plans are being closely held at the Homeland Security Council at the White House, the source added, which is led by Stephen Miller who has worked closely with Secretary of State and acting national security adviser Marco Rubio on the efforts related to Venezuela in recent months.

The Venezuelan opposition led by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González has been working on day-after plans for years and has shared elements of those plans publicly. Their efforts would address?security, economy, energy, infrastructure and education, among other focuses, opposition?leader David Smolansky told CNN.

The opposition has been formulating?“100 hour” and “100 day” plans?for next steps if Maduro is ousted, and those plans have been shared with different parts of the Trump administration, a source familiar said. It is unclear how much the administration has incorporated any aspects of those plans into its thinking, the source said.

The Trump administration had said that?Gonzalez?is the?“rightful president” of Venezuela?after the US claimed that he won the most votes in the country’s election?last year.?Over the summer there were informal conversations?inside?the administration tied to Machado and Gonzalez leading the country if Maduro was out of the way, officials said. Machado has publicly praised Trump and said that Venezuela would work closely with the US.

But now the day-after planning is more intense, having to account for a number of different situations wherein Maduro could leave leadership. It is not clear that the administration has decided how they might move to oust Maduro, complicating the already fraught task of developing detailed day-after plans.

The US would have to determine how much and what kind of support it would give the country to prevent it from descending into conflict and chaos, and how it would push to influence the country’s governance if Maduro leaves after leading the country for more than a decade. While putting US troops on the ground is unlikely even?while?Trump has not ruled it out, there would need to be plans for economic, security and intelligence support, experts said.

Multiple administration officials said Trump?is not interested in a long, drawn-out negotiation with Maduro. Maduro will be given a shorter leash for?negotiations?than Trump has given?to other world leaders, one of the officials said. The officials also do not consider a negotiated departure for Maduro to be likely given past failures.

“The problem is Maduro has made five deals with different parties over the last 10 years and has broken every single one of them,” Rubio told?Fox last week, adding that Maduro’s track record doesn’t mean that Trump shouldn’t try to strike a deal.

In October, Trump said that he?had?authorized the CIA?to operate inside Venezuela to clamp down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs from the South American nation, but stopped short of saying it would have authority to remove Maduro.

Experts welcomed the preparation plans inside the administration to consider what comes after a potential?Maduro fall, given how?complicated?and?dangerous?the situation could become.

“It is a good sign. If they intend to change the regime, which they seem to be intent on, they need to have an alternative ready to go on day one,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ defense and security department. “In 2003 in Iraq the US did not have a clear plan for the day after, and the Trump administration would not want to replicate that situation.”

Cancian also pointed out that having those plans could make it harder for Trump to step back from any regime change efforts.

Any attempt to build a new leadership structure would put the US in the position of trying to navigate ensuring the legitimacy of a new government in the estimation of both international and domestic audiences.

“When and how do you restore recognition of the Venezuelan government? If it is Maria Carina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez who take over immediately its very clear, they would be considered a legitimately elected president so the US would restore recognition from day one,” said?Francisco Rodríguez, an economist who has studied Venezuela.

“But if it’s a transitional government that includes people from Chavismo, how and when do you recognize the government? Recognition will determine the lifting of sanctions and access to economic support which will be critical to stabilizing the country,”?he said, referencing the political movement of former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

While the administration?remains?in touch with the Venezuelan opposition there are not regular meetings at a high level with officials such as Rubio, multiple sources said. The opposition’s own plan for governance of the country after Maduro leaves is not an administration sanctioned endeavor, they added.

Smolansky welcomed the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts on Venezuela, but could not speak to the day-after planning that the administration is currently undertaking.

“We are aligned with the US about having a freer and safer hemisphere reducing the influence of Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China in the hemisphere where?Venezuela?is the hub for those external actors,” said Smolansky,?a senior security and foreign affairs adviser to Gonzalez and Machado.

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