President Donald Trump is considering plans to target cocaine production facilities and trafficking routes in Venezuela, according to reporting by CNN and cited by Reuters.
Three senior U.S. officials who are familiar with the discussions said this option is still under review but has not been approved yet.
The potential strikes would represent another escalation in Trump’s campaign against Latin American drug networks. The president has stated that he sees drug cartels not as criminal groups but as “enemy combatants” waging war against the United States.
This week, Trump told reporters that his administration is “no longer tolerating the poison flooding our communities” and promised that traffickers “will be wiped from the face of the Earth.” His language shows a growing use of military terms to deal with the drug trade. Strategy meetings now often include Pentagon and intelligence officials rather than just law enforcement leaders.
On Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed that a second U.S. carrier strike group will deploy to the Caribbean. The nuclear-powered USS Gerald R. Ford and its escorts will join existing naval forces already conducting missions along known smuggling routes linked to Venezuela.
Defense officials described this buildup as the largest U.S. naval presence in the region in decades. The administration claims the effort aims to cut cocaine shipments before they reach Central America or U.S. shores, but analysts believe it also sends a broader message to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump said he will brief Congress next week but insisted that he does not need a declaration of war. “We’re already in one,” he said. “This is a fight for the survival of our country.”
The military buildup follows a series of recent U.S. operations against suspected drug vessels, including a September strike off Venezuela’s coast that killed 11 people. U.S. intelligence agencies accuse Maduro’s government of protecting trafficking networks and profiting from their proceeds, charges that the Venezuelan leader has denied.
In a further move on Friday, the White House imposed significant sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his wife, son, and top aides. The sanctions freeze their U.S. assets and ban American entities from dealing with them. Washington accuses Bogotá of ignoring a rise in cocaine exports.
The sanctions surprised regional diplomats, many of whom pointed out that Colombia has been one of Washington’s closest partners in anti-drug efforts for decades. One senior Latin American official called the step “a diplomatic earthquake.”
Critics in the United States have also raised concerns about Trump’s growing use of military force without congressional approval. Legal experts warn that attacking drug targets in sovereign nations could violate international law and the War Powers Resolution, which limits unilateral presidential military action.
Trump said Thursday he plans to keep Congress briefed, and that land targets in Venezuela are next. At the same time, he said he didn't think he'd be asking for a war declaration to target drug traffickers who are killing Americans.
"Well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We're going to kill them," Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized Trump’s actions on Friday, stating that his country “will not take orders from gringos” and calling for negotiation instead of confrontation. Lula warned that the buildup risks “igniting the region” and undermining cooperation on border control and public health related to narcotics.
For Trump, the message remains firm. He has positioned the Caribbean and northern South America as the new front line in a war he insists the United States must fight — and, in his words, “must win.”
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