President Donald Trump suggested Thursday night that the United States could “very soon” begin attacking suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on land, expanding operations that have so far focused on the Caribbean Sea.
In his Thanksgiving remarks to U.S. troops around the world, Trump thanked the Air Force’s 7th Bombardment Wing for its work to “deter Venezuelan drug traffickers” and said that “about 85% of them have been detained by sea… and we will begin apprehending them by land.”
“Also, the land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” the president added, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The comments come as Trump weighs the possibility of taking military action against Venezuela as part of what his administration has called a campaign against drug trafficking. Senior U.S. military officials have also made recent visits to Caribbean leaders.
For months, the president has stepped up the US military presence in the region, increasing pressure on Venezuela with attacks on suspected drug trafficking ships since early September. The military has carried out nearly two dozen known attacks on vessels they said were carrying drugs, killing at least 82 people.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, a major aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean last week, completing a buildup of U.S. military forces in the region not seen in decades.
Last week, the United States also designated the Cartel of the Suns, a group that Washington says is led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as a foreign terrorist organization.
Maduro has denied having ties to drug trafficking and has accused the United States of “manufacturing” a war against him.
The Trump administration’s actions have raised both expectations and concerns about a possible attack inside Venezuela.
However, even as military pressure increases, Trump has said he could still hold talks with Maduro, suggesting a possible diplomatic path to defuse rising tensions.
“I could talk to him,” Trump said aboard Air Force One this week. “We’ll see. We’re discussing this with different staff.”
Asked Monday about the government’s continued attacks on drug traffickers, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that “you can expect those attacks to continue.”
NBC News previously reported that, according to current and former US military and law enforcement officials, as well as narcotics experts, drug cartels operating vessels in the Caribbean are transporting cocaine primarily from South America to Europe, not to the US.
During his remarks Thursday, Trump also spoke with members of other military service groups and offered to answer “any damn question they want.”
Military members praised him, told stories and asked him questions about his presidency, and one Marine spoke from Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico, saying his battalion was ready to support the president’s operation against narcoterrorists.
