WASHINGTON (TNND — President Trump signaled Thursday that U.S. forces may soon expand operations against alleged Venezuela-based drug trafficking networks, telling American service members during a Thanksgiving call that land-based action is imminent.
We’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier. But that’s gonna start very soon,” President Trump said. “We warn them, stop sending poison to our country.
The comments mark a potential escalation of the administration’s months-long effort to target drug smuggling routes in the Caribbean. The United States has already deployed fighter jets, more than a dozen Navy warships and about 15,000 troops to the region.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent Thanksgiving aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier, currently operating in the Caribbean — praising service members for interdicting cartel activity at sea.
Out at sea, interdicting cartels, defending the American people, we are grateful for you,” Hegseth said.
U.S. forces have conducted more than 20 airstrikes on suspected drug boats in recent months, killing at least 83 people. Several of the targeted vessels are believed to have departed from Venezuela.
According to CNN, administration officials recently told lawmakers in classified briefings that the United States does not currently have a clear legal basis for military strikes inside Venezuela. A Justice Department opinion permitting strikes on suspected drug boats does not extend to land targets or attacks inside another sovereign nation.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said the president appeared to be “daring Congress to stop him.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., warned that military intervention in Venezuela could fracture the political movement President Trump has built.
If he invades Venezuela … his movement will dissolve,” Paul said.
Venezuelan officials have responded to U.S. statements and military activity by reinforcing defenses around Caracas and increasing resources for military and paramilitary groups aligned with President Nicolás Maduro.
A new CBS News/YouGov poll found 70% of Americans oppose U.S. military action in Venezuela, with just 13% viewing the country as a major threat to the United States.