Military Leaders Reportedly Presented Trump With ‘Options’ in Venezuela as Tensions Escalate

Mark Schiefelbein/AP photo

President Donald Trump was presented with “updated options for potential operations in Venezuela” by military leaders on Wednesday, CBS News’  Jennifer Jacobs and James LaPorta reported on Thursday.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Air Force General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior officials were present for the briefing, where “no final decision” was reached, per Jacobs and LaPorta.

From their report:

Earlier this week, the USS Gerald Ford carrier strike group entered U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility. Southern Command is the primary combatant unit for operations in the Caribbean and South America.

The Ford joins a flotilla of destroyers, war planes and special operations assets that are already in the region.

Over the last two months, the U.S. military has conducted strikes against at least 21 vessels it alleges were ferrying drugs from South America to the U.S. (There have been 20 strikes so far, but an operation in late October targeted two boats.) At least 80 alleged smugglers have been killed in the strikes. Two survived and were repatriated to their home countries of Ecuador and Colombia. The man released in Ecuador was freed because authorities found no evidence he had committed a crime.

Last month, after a reporter asked Trump about a report that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has offered his administration “everything” in an effort to bring hostilities to an end, Trump replied: “He’s offered everything. You’re right. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to fuck around with the United States.”