President Donald Trump is preparing a stepped-up campaign against drug cartels tied to Venezuela, including the possibility of air and ground strikes and expanded covert action. His team says it may seek Congressional authorization for strikes on cartels moving narcotics over land into the United States, while the military has already been conducting strikes at sea. The White House frames this as a national security fight tied to Venezuela’s regime and transnational criminal networks.
Trump told reporters he might go to Congress to get explicit authority before widening the scope of operations, signaling a deliberate approach to the legal and political questions involved. He’s arguing the situation is urgent, calling cartel violence a direct national-security threat to American communities. That framing sets up a clash with anyone who doubts the executive branch’s reach on cross-border narcotics operations.
Since early September, U.S. forces have been striking vessels in the Caribbean Sea believed to be carrying drugs bound for the United States, an effort the administration says has disrupted major smuggling runs. Officials reported dozens of casualties from those strikes, which the White House links to pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. At the same time, the Navy and Marine deployments near Venezuela make the administration’s posture unmistakably more robust.
Last week the president confirmed he has authorized covert CIA operations inside Venezuela while weighing whether to extend strikes to land targets. He told reporters, “We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” a comment the administration takes as notice that a new phase could be imminent. That line underlines a shift: air control is established, and ground options are being scoped.
President Trump said Wednesday the administration may go to Congress for authorization to strike drug cartels that are smuggling narcotics on land.
“We will hit them very hard when they come in by land. And they haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that. We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when [they] come to the land,” the president said at the White House, sitting alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Since early September, the U.S. military has been striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing at least 32 people.
The campaign is part of the administration’s pressure against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whom the president and his allies view as an “illegitimate” leader. Trump has raised the prospect of striking Venezuela on land and has recently confirmed that he has authorized the CIA to conduct operations in the Latin American country.
The administration has beefed up its military presence near Venezuela, deploying Navy ships and Marines in the region.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier Wednesday that two “narco-terrorists” were killed in a strike against an alleged drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, the first such strike on that side of the continent.
The strike, which took place late Tuesday, is at least the eighth blow against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in Latin America since early September.
Trump has described the cartel threat bluntly, calling it “a national security problem” and saying the cartels “killed 300,000 people last year,” a claim he uses to justify stronger measures. The White House argues that confronting transnational drug networks is core to defending U.S. citizens and restoring lawful order at the border. That tough posture appeals to voters who want action, not talk, on the flow of illegal drugs and the violence that follows.
The administration’s air campaign against alleged Venezuelan drug boats has reportedly killed nearly 30 people so far according to officials involved in the strikes, evidence the White House points to as disrupting major smuggling operations. Those strikes are meant to degrade the logistical backbone moving dangerous narcotics toward the U.S. mainland. If ground operations are added, planners say the aim would be to cut off routes and leaders, not to occupy territory.
Defense and national security officials emphasize that covert and kinetic tools are being synchronized to pressure Maduro’s regime and the criminal networks that operate from within Venezuela. Secretary Hegseth’s description of two “narco-terrorists” killed in the Eastern Pacific highlights the administration’s willingness to label and target cartel leaders aggressively. The strikes this fall are part of a pattern the White House describes as escalating enforcement to protect Americans at home.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
