Trump threatens Venezuela of 'incalculable' consequences over migrants
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Trump threatens Venezuela with "incalculable" consequences if it fails to repatriate migrants, including prisoners and mental health patients, amid rising tensions between Caracas and Washington.
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
US President Donald Trump issued a sharp warning to Venezuela on Saturday, threatening "incalculable" consequences if Caracas fails to repatriate Venezuelan nationals, including individuals he claimed were prisoners and people from mental institutions.
"We want Venezuela to immediately accept all of the prisoners, and people from mental institutions... forced into the United States of America," Trump said, adding in all-caps, "or the price you pay will be incalculable!"
On Friday, Trump alleged that American forces carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, killing three men he alleged were involved in narcotics trafficking.
“On my orders,” Trump wrote in a social media post amplified by the White House and the Secretary of War, “the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”
The president’s post included video footage of the strike and its fiery aftermath.
Trump claimed that intelligence confirmed the boat was carrying illicit drugs along a well-known smuggling route, “en route to poison Americans.” He did not cite any legal justification for what critics are calling another extrajudicial killing of alleged traffickers.
US military build-up in the region
These attacks come amid a significant US military buildup near Venezuela. Over the weekend, five F-35 fighter jets were deployed to Puerto Rico, joining half a dozen US Navy destroyers already positioned there, along with support assets aimed at disrupting drug trafficking.
The naval contingent includes the Iwo Jima amphibious ready group, comprising the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima, and USS Fort Lauderdale with 4,500 sailors, as well as the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has 2,200 personnel, The Guardian reported, citing officials.
Trump has so far reportedly declined to commit to military operations inside Venezuela itself, sidestepping questions about the legality of the strikes.
Read more: Maduro warns US that Venezuela, Caribbean must not face threats
