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President Donald Trump declined to speak with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday with a brutally honest response that probably didn’t sit well with the socialist strongman.

The South American leader requested to speak with Trump on the phone, according to The Associated Press, and the response was one every American should cheer.

“President Trump will gladly speak with the leader of Venezuela as soon as democracy is restored in that country,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement, according to The Hill.

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That’s putting it bluntly. But the statement went even further:

“Since the start of this administration, President Trump has asked that Maduro respect Venezuela’s constitution, hold free and fair elections, release political prisoners, cease all human rights violations, and stop oppressing Venezuela’s great people.

“The Maduro regime has refused to heed this call, which has been echoed around the region and the world. Instead, Maduro has chosen the path of dictatorship.”

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Trump recently issued sanctions on Venezuelan officials. The United States is the top importer of Venezuelan oil but, so far, Washington has stopped short of issuing any sanctions on the Venezuelan energy sector.

Trump also said on Friday that he had not ruled out the possibility of military action in Venezuela as a result of the political and social turmoil.

Last month, Trump  called for “free and fair elections” in Venezuela and in a statement, said the U.S. “stands with the people of Venezuela in their quest to restore their country to a full and prosperous democracy.”

Venezuela, a nation rich in oil reserves, has been in turmoil for months and is on the brink of collapse as the government keeps citizens in a stranglehold of socialism.

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That’s why Trump isn’t giving Maduro much wiggle room when it comes having discussions of any kind.

If Maduro wants to talk to an American president, he can stop acting like a socialist dictator.

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