President Donald Trump is considering plans to target cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes inside Venezuela, though he has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with them, three US officials told CNN.
Outward signs on Friday pointed toward a major potential military escalation, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordering the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier strike group currently stationed in Europe to the Caribbean region amid a massive buildup of US forces there. Trump has also authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
The president has not ruled out taking a diplomatic approach with Venezuela to stem the flow of drugs into the US, two officials said, even after the administration cut off active talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. Venezuela is not known to be a major source of cocaine, but the Trump administration has been aggressively trying to link Maduro to the drug trade.
“There are plans on the table that the president is considering” regarding operations on targets inside Venezuelan, one administration official told CNN, adding that “he hasn’t ruled out diplomacy.”
A second official, who has been directly involved in some of the discussions, argued that there are many proposals that have been suggested to the president. A third official said the planning is happening across the government, but the focus at the highest levels is currently going after the drugs inside Venezuela.
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