Pentagon deploys top aircraft carrier as Trump militarisation of Caribbean ratchets up | Trump administration
The Pentagon announced Friday that the United States has deployed its most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean; It’s a major escalation in the Trump administration’s war against drug cartels, which are providing resources to launch attacks on targets on the ground.
The move will bring the carrier USS Gerald Ford to the coast of Venezuela, along with dozens of stealth fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, as well as other warships accompanying the carrier, as it nears the end of its current deployment in the Mediterranean.
Sending the carrier strike group to the Caribbean is the clearest sign yet that the administration intends to dramatically expand the scope of its lethal military campaign to hit targets on land on small boats allegedly carrying drugs destined for the United States.
The carrier strike group includes dozens of F-35 fighter jets, increasing the firepower and ability of the United States to hit air defense systems in Venezuela. That would pave the way for U.S. special operations or drones to destroy targets on the ground, current and former officials said.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the expanded naval presence “will enhance the United States’ capacity to detect, monitor and disrupt illicit actors and activities that endanger the security and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the western hemisphere.”
For weeks, the Trump administration has been planning to step up its campaign against drug cartels and efforts to destabilize the government of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, following an initial campaign of attacks on at least nine boats allegedly smuggling drugs.
Donald Trump also confirmed to reporters at the White House on Thursday that the next phase of his military campaign is to hit targets on the ground. “Land will be next,” Trump said. “Terrestrial drugs are much more dangerous for them. It’s going to be much more dangerous. You’ll see that soon.”
Trump did not discuss which targets in which countries the US planned to hit. But he instructed his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who sat next to him at the White House event, to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States and brief Congress on the administration’s plans.
Asked whether he would declare war on the cartels, Trump said he would continue individual attacks. “I think we’re going to kill the people who bring drugs into our country, okay?” he said. “We’re going to kill them, you know they’re going to die.”
Trump announced what appeared to be the first attack on a boat on Sept. 3 by posting a short video of the attack. In the following weeks, the administration announced new strikes without disclosing details other than the number of people killed and the allegations that the boats were carrying drugs.
Since the start of the military campaign, the administration has offered a dubious legal justification for the attacks, claiming the boats were linked to “designated terrorist organizations” or WTOs with which the United States is currently engaged in a “non-international armed conflict,” the Guardian reported.
However, to date, the administration has not provided any concrete evidence that those killed in the boat attacks were smuggling drugs into the United States. In briefings to Congress, Pentagon officials said the boats were legitimate targets because Trump had designated them as assets of cartels viewed as DTOs, people familiar with the matter said.
The military operation also attracted the attention of the Central Intelligence Agency. Trump confirmed on October 15 that he authorized the CIA’s so-called “covert action” in Venezuela. The Guardian reported that the CIA provided much of the intelligence used in the airstrikes.
