“If they put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down,” said President Donald Trump Friday of Venezuelan jets recently seen flying near U.S. Navy vessels.
According to a Thursday X post from the newly-renamed Department of War, two military aircraft from Venezuela flew near a U.S. Navy vessel that day. It called the planes “Maduro regime military aircraft,” referring to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations,” said the department. “The Cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the U.S.
military.”
CBS News said the aircraft were “Heavily armed f-16 fighter jets.” When asked how close the jet got to U.S. vessels, Trump said: I don’t want to talk about that.”
Last month, the State Department put a $50 million reward on Maduro’s head and said that he leads the Cartel of the Suns criminal organization. Per the department, more than 50 countries have contested Maduro’s 2018 election victory in Venezuela. Maduro has also been indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York.
“Venezuela has been a very bad actor,” said Trump during his Friday comments.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “Venezuela is a major source,” in the drug trade, though Venezuelan officials deny the claim. Rubio also asserted that the United Nations has claimed that Venezuela is not involved in the drug trade.
“I don’t care what the UN says. The UN doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” said Rubio.
However, the UN has also noted issues with Venezuela’s government. This March, its Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights said that the “Government of Venezuela continues to engage in actions constituting the crime against humanity of persecution on political grounds.”
“For Venezuela, they can’t cooperate with us because they’re part of terrorism. They’re not a government. That is clear. Nicolás Maduro is not a government or political regime. They are a terrorist organization and organized crime organization that have taken over a country so that they can become the leaders so that they can become billionaires,” Rubio said this week.
In recent weeks, the U.S. has sent a flotilla of U.S. warships near Venezuelan waters to target what it calls narco-terrorism. Those ships include the Dunham, an Aegis guided-missile destroyer that Venezuelan aircraft flew over, per CBS News.
According to Al Jezeera, some have questioned the legality of the U.S. military’s moves in international waters. Venezuela has called the arrival of warships “criminal and bloody threat,” per CBS.
The moves have included a strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela that the U.S. military said killed 11 people on board. Rubio said the members belong to the Tren de Aragua gang, designated by the Trump administration as a terrorist organization this year.
“It’s a new day. It’s a different day, and… this is an activity the United States is not going to tolerate in our hemisphere,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said this week. He also pushed back on allegations that video of the military strike was generated by artificial intelligence.
Trump said Friday that the drugs allegedly coming in from Venezuela have contributed to hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the U.S. He compared the drug trade to war, and the losses to those who died in the Civil War.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced this week the termination of the 2021 designation of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela.
Regarding whether he would like to see a regime change in Venezuela, Trump said Friday “we’re not talking about that.” He later told military officials to do “anything” they want if Venezuelan jets get near U.S.
military ships again.