President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that US forces carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a vessel allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela, killing 11 suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said American forces had targeted what he described as a “drug-carrying boat” operating near Venezuela. “A lot of drugs in that boat,” he told reporters, adding that he had been briefed on the operation by General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The president later shared details on Truth Social, writing: “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!”
His post included grainy aerial footage showing a small motor boat speeding across rough waters before bursting into flames.
The Venezuelan government quickly disputed the claims. Communications Minister Freddy Nanez suggested, without evidence, that the footage Trump posted was generated using artificial intelligence. Caracas has repeatedly accused Washington of fabricating information to justify its military presence in the region.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the operation on X, writing: “Today the US military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organisation.”
It remains unclear what kind of narcotics the vessel was believed to be carrying.
The strike is the latest escalation in Washington’s campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and allied groups. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has designated several Latin American criminal groups as terrorist organisations, including Tren de Aragua and the “Cartel of the Suns,” which US officials allege is linked to Maduro and senior Venezuelan military and intelligence officials.
The Trump administration has also increased military deployments in the southern Caribbean over the past two months, dispatching additional naval vessels along with thousands of Marines and sailors. Trump has repeatedly vowed to use force to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. “There’s more where that came from,” he said Tuesday of the strike.
Venezuela’s government has reacted angrily to the buildup. On Monday, Maduro warned he would “declare a republic in arms” if the United States attacked, calling the deployments “the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years.”
The confrontation underscores rising tensions between Washington and Caracas, with US officials framing Venezuela’s drug trafficking networks as a national security threat.
