According to four US officials and a source familiar with the matter, the Homeland Security Council met three times this week, including a larger session on Thursday attended by President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine.
Trump was reportedly briefed on multiple military options.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, the US president signaled that a decision may be imminent, telling reporters, “I can’t tell you what it would be, but I sort of made up my mind” on Venezuela.
However, Trump also said, “We made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in,” leaving the matter of his decision ambiguous.
Washington continues to accuse President Nicolas Maduro’s government of ties to drug trafficking, a claim Caracas rejects. It is noteworthy that Western media have also repeatedly refuted claims of Caracas being the source of narcotics trafficked into the United States.
The high-level consultations come as the United States deploys substantial military assets to the southern Caribbean. The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group moved into the region earlier this week, bringing more than 75 aircraft and over 5,000 personnel. F-35 jets, warships, and a nuclear-powered submarine have also been positioned near Venezuelan waters.
The expansion follows two months of lethal US strikes on boats Washington claims were involved in narcotics trafficking. At least 20 vessels were hit in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing around 80 people. Legal experts, Democratic lawmakers, and several governments, including France, have questioned the legality of these operations, warning that the killings may constitute extrajudicial executions.
A Reuters visual investigation also found that the US military is upgrading a former Cold War-era naval base in Puerto Rico, signaling preparations for sustained operations that could support potential actions inside Venezuela.
MNA
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