President Trump said he has met with his military team to decide whether to continue bombing boats off Venezuela.
“I sort of made up my mind,” Mr. Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One. “I can’t tell you what it is, but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in.”
The White House has targeted alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and some in the eastern Pacific Ocean for a few months now. Some 20 vessels have been struck, with at least 80 people, whom Mr. Trump calls narco-terrorists, killed.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the mission is formally named Operation Southern Spear.
The president has underscored that the strikes have stopped drugs from coming over U.S. borders.
The administration has been expanding the military’s large presence in the area, especially with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.
“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM [area of responsibility] will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. “These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
More than 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft are aboard the Ford, the world’s largest carrier.
The ship’s arrival brought the military presence in the region up to roughly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
America takes issue with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who faces charges of narco-terrorism in the U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. doesn’t recognize Mr. Maduro’s “illegitimate regime” while accusing him of stealing last year’s election.
Meanwhile, Venezuela has mobilized troops and civilians to defend against a possible American attack.
Some lawmakers, including Republicans, question whether the boat strikes are legal, while Trump allies cheer the bombings for saving American lives.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
