President Donald Trump is mulling over a bold plan to hit cocaine production sites and trafficking networks deep inside Venezuela, as CNN reports.
Reports indicate Trump is seriously considering military strikes in Venezuela to curb drug flow into the U.S., while also keeping diplomatic options on the table amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean.
This isn’t just idle talk; the administration has already cut off active negotiations with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. Trump, however, hasn’t completely dismissed diplomacy as a tool to tackle the narcotics issue.
On Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Navy’s cutting-edge Gerald R. Ford strike group, previously stationed in Europe near Split, Croatia, to reposition to the Caribbean. This move, over 5,000 miles, signals a serious intent, though it’ll take days for the group to arrive. Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell noted the deployment aims to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism.”
That’s not all—U.S. Southern Command now oversees a significant chunk of naval assets, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, over 4,500 Marines and sailors, guided-missile destroyers, an attack submarine, and P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft. Even Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico, shuttered since 2004, is back in action as a hub, with satellite imagery confirming the presence of F-35 jets and MQ-9 Reaper drones.
This buildup raises eyebrows about the administration’s true goals in the region. Is it just about drugs, or is there a broader play against Maduro’s regime? Some officials are openly pushing for regime change, hoping to pressure Maduro’s allies who profit from cartel cash.
Here’s the rub—Venezuela isn’t even a primary cocaine producer, per the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, with most coca crops rooted in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. The DEA’s latest report in March didn’t even mention Venezuela in its cocaine trafficking analysis, focusing instead on Ecuador, Central America, and Mexico.
Yet, Trump officials insist Venezuela serves as a transit point for drugs, pointing to Maduro’s 2020 federal indictment on narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy charges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while in Ecuador, didn’t mince words, stating, “Nicolás Maduro, is an indicted drug trafficker in the United States, and he’s a fugitive of American justice.” Well, that’s a spicy label, but indictments don’t equate to hard evidence of Venezuela being the drug kingpin here.
Meanwhile, Trump has ramped up tough talk about potential land strikes inside Venezuela in recent days. Specifics on such operations remain murky, though Rubio hinted at targeting drug “routes.” One could ask if this rhetoric is more about flexing muscle than crafting a coherent strategy.
Action is already underway in international waters, with U.S. forces striking alleged drug boats, the latest overnight operation in the Caribbean claiming six lives. That brings the tally to 10 boats targeted and 43 deaths since this campaign kicked off last month.
On the other side, Maduro has released a video pleading for peace in English, a desperate bid to cool tensions. It’s hard to ignore the irony—while he’s asking for calm, the U.S. is parking warships and jets practically in his backyard.
Trump, for his part, isn’t sweating an immediate decision, with an unnamed administration official noting the president is “not in a rush” to finalize plans. His current focus is split between a trip to Asia and brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Still, the legalities of inland strikes aren’t lost on officials, who admit that aggressive moves inside Venezuela would likely need congressional approval or at least briefings. Trump, however, sounded cavalier on Thursday, telling CNN he’d continue hitting drug traffickers abroad without a formal war declaration and expects no congressional pushback on land ops.
Then there’s the CIA, quietly authorized by Trump to run covert operations in Venezuela. What exactly that entails remains under wraps, but it adds another layer of intrigue to an already tense situation.
At the end of the day, this Venezuelan drug saga is a high-stakes chess game, balancing military might, diplomatic feints, and political pressure. While the progressive crowd might cry foul over “imperialist” moves, the reality is that drug trafficking—wherever it happens—harms American communities. Trump’s approach, whether through bombs or backchannels, aims to protect U.S. interests, even if the path forward is as murky as a Caribbean storm.
