Venezuela s embattled President Nicolás Maduro has called Donald Trump s government a "gang of extremists" and blamed the US for his country s crisis.
Relations between the US and Venezuela were already fraught before President Trump s administration became one of the first to back Mr Guaidó as interim leader.
Speaking in the capital, Caracas, he told the BBC s Orla Guerin: "It s a political war, of the United States empire, of the interests of the extreme right that today is governing, of the Ku Klux Klan, that rules the White House, to take over Venezuela."
The US, which accuses Mr Maduro s government of human rights violations and corruption, has led the international pressure on the Venezuelan president to step down.
It has imposed a raft of economic measures on the country, including against the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, aiming to hit Venezuela s main source of revenue.
In recent years the US has frozen Mr Maduro s US assets, restricted Venezuela s access to US markets and blocked dealings with those involved in the country s gold trade.
It has also criticised Mr Maduro s increased use of the courts and security forces to suppress political opposition.
Mr Maduro, who has blamed US sanctions for Venezuela s economic woes, said the US intended to "create a humanitarian crisis in order to justify a military intervention".
"This is part of that charade. That s why, with all dignity, we tell them we don t want their crumbs, their toxic food, their left-overs."
"What s the logic, reasoning, to repeat an election?" he asked.