Donald Trump is planning strikes on Venezuela within days and has been presented with a suite of military options by his top generals, according to a report.
The president was briefed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, sources told CBS News.
The commander in chief has not yet made a final decision but action could come as soon as this week, the sources said.
Earlier this week, the USS Gerald R. Ford – a nuclear-powered behemoth and the largest aircraft carrier in the world – steamed into the Caribbean.
It joined the biggest force assembled by the Unites States in the region since the Cold War amid growing speculation that America is set to launch an assault to topple the regime of Nicolas Maduro.
Trump has directed the U.S. military since September to launch deadly hellfire missile strikes on alleged drug boats coming towards the country.
The administration’s anti-narco efforts have resulted in 19 separate attacks across the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, with a total of 76 people killed.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment.
U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford in Norway in September
The US military has launched 19 strikes against alleged drug boats coming towards the US since September, resulting in the deaths of 76 people
Donald Trump has not yet made a final decision on the military strikes against Venezuela
Hegseth discussed the administration’s deadly approach towards dealing with Latin American drug smugglers during a summit in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Wednesday.
‘If you’re trafficking drugs to poison the American people and we know you’re a designated foreign terrorist or trafficker, we will find you and we will kill you,’ Hegseth said.
‘No one is better at tracking and networking and mapping and hunting than the American military. Been honing those skills for many decades in foreign lands.’
The intelligence community provided information to the president regarding the potential upcoming military operations.
The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, however, was not present during the White House discussions over the matter due to an overseas trip.
Critics have claimed that the Trump administration’s targeted strikes on drug smugglers represent extrajudicial killings.
The Pentagon has yet to release concrete evidence to the public that the vessels were carrying narcotics or posed a threat to the U.S.
Last month, America rescued two survivors from a military strike on a drug vessel. The pair were later repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador.
Trump has in the past threaten to topple the military regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro
Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
He has asserted America is engaged in an ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Senate Democrats have expressed doubts over the legality of the strikes, and earlier this month renewed their request for more information in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Gabbard and Hegseth.
