Trump says US preparing ground operations in Venezuela
3 Min Read
Trump says US will launch ground operation against "drug cartels" in Venezuela, denies WSJ report on bomber flights, and confirms CIA covert activity.
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US President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during a roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House on October 23, 2025 in Washington as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens. (AP)
US President Donald Trump announced that the United States is preparing to launch a ground operation against 'drug cartels' in Venezuela, signaling a major escalation in the administration's anti-narcotics campaign.
The announcement has greatly escalated concern that the US will go to war with Venezuela under false pretenses in order to instigate regime change.
"The drugs coming in by sea are like 5% of what they were a year ago, less than 5% … The land is going to be next," Trump said during a press conference on transnational crime.
Trump also suggested that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth brief Congress on the forthcoming military action.
Earlier this week, Hegseth revealed that the US had conducted two lethal strikes on vessels in the eastern Pacific suspected of drug trafficking, following similar actions in the southern Caribbean.
Trump dismisses congressional approval
Responding to questions about legality, Trump dismissed the need for congressional approval."Well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war, I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country," he said.
Trump also denied a The Wall Street Journal report that the US had deployed B-1 bombers near Venezuelan airspace. The report cited US officials and flight tracking data indicating that the bombers flew close to Venezuelan territory from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.
"No, it's not accurate, it is false, " Trump said, though he added, " We're not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons, drugs being one of them."
Trump to raise Fentanyl issue in meeting with Xi Jinping
Trump confirmed he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his upcoming trip and emphasized that fentanyl would top the agenda.
The first question I am going to be asking him about is fentanyl ... So it will be the first thing on the list," Trump said. Everyone is going to be "very happy” with the outcome of the meeting, he added, signaling expectations for progress on multiple bilateral issues.
CIA operations in Venezuela will fail: Defense minister
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino responded sharply to the US escalation, warning that any CIA operation in the country would fail.
"They may deploy I don't know how many CIA-affiliated units in covert operations... and any attempt will fail," Padrino said during military exercises along Venezuela’s coast.
According to regional reports, nearly 40 people have been killed in recent US strikes on boats in the Caribbean, many of them fishermen or civilians, according to local governments and families, in what critics have called "Extrajudicial killings."
