National Defense

Trump Says Military Will Stop Alleged Venezuelan Drug Smugglers By Land ‘Very Soon’

(Screenshot/Fox News)

President Donald Trump suggested the military will expand its campaign against alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers “very soon,” during remarks to U.S. service members on Thursday.

Though the military’s anti-drug trafficking strikes have been limited to the Caribbean Sea, the president said the armed forces would soon be taking new action against drug traffickers by land. The military has executed nearly two dozen strikes on alleged drug boats since early September, resulting in the deaths of more than 80 people.

“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many,” Trump said during a call thanking the Air Force’s 7th Bomb Wing for their efforts supporting the newly-named Operation Southern Spear. “Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore.”

“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” Trump continued. “Also, the land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon … We  warn them: Stop sending poison to our country.”

Trump’s Thanksgiving Day remarks come as he is evaluating whether to pursue military action against Venezuela. The White House has repeatedly referred to Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro as an illegitimate leader and taken a variety of steps to ramp up pressure against his socialist regime.

Trump has deployed a level of military assets around Venezuela not seen in decades. The USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — arrived in the Caribbean Sea in mid-November as part of “Operation Southern Spear.”

Several top military leaders, including General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have visited the region over the past several weeks.

On Nov. 16, the State Department announced it would designate a Maduro-linked cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. The declaration could allow the president to order new sanctions targeting Maduro’s assets.

Trump has also not ruled out talking directly to Maduro amid the multi-pronged pressure campaign.

Trump previously floated expanding the military’s strikes against alleged drug smugglers to land in October.

“The land is going to be next,” Trump said during a press conference with his homeland security task force. “And we may go to the Senate; we may go to the Congress and tell them about it, but I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it.”

The vast majority of Americans are opposed to potential military action against Venezuela, according to a CBS News/YouGov survey conducted in November. Seventy-six percent of respondents also said the Trump administration has yet to explain its position on military action against the Maduro regime.

Congressional Democrats and leading opponents of foreign intervention, including Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, have sharply criticized the military strikes against alleged drug smugglers. They argue the Trump administration must provide evidence that the vessels are trafficking drugs and that Trump needs authorization from Congress to strike the boats.

The Pentagon referred the DCNF to the White House for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.