Media: US officials present Venezuela military operation plans to Trump

Senior military officials on 12 November presented U.S. President Donald Trump with updated options for potential military operations against Venezuela, including possible land-based strikes, according to multiple sources familiar with high-level deliberations at the White House.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and other senior defence officials briefed the president on a range of scenarios that could be executed in the coming days. While the discussions were described as detailed, two sources told CBS News that no final decision has been made.

The White House has not commented on the meeting, and a Pentagon spokesperson also declined to provide details. According to sources, the U.S. intelligence community contributed intelligence assessments to support planning, though Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not attend the discussions due to travel abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Canada attending a G7 foreign ministers’ summit.

The briefing comes as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group entered the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility earlier this week. The deployment boosts an already significant American military presence in the Caribbean and South America, including destroyers, warplanes, and special operations units.

Over the past two months, U.S. forces have conducted 21 strikes on vessels alleged to be transporting narcotics from South America to the United States. At least 80 suspected smugglers have been killed in these operations, while two survivors were repatriated to Ecuador and Colombia. Ecuadorian authorities later released one of the men after determining that there was no evidence of criminal activity.

At a defence summit in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on 12 November, Hegseth openly addressed the administration’s intensified campaign against drug trafficking networks.

“My advice to foreign terrorist organisations is do not get in a boat,” he said. “If you’re trafficking drugs to poison the American people and we know you’re from a designated terrorist organisation — we will find you and we will kill you.”

By Vugar Khalilov