This article details advanced deliberations by President Donald Trump on a possible military strike in Venezuela, following two days of high-level meetings with his national security team, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump says he has "sort of made up [his] mind," although he wants to maintain "strategic ambiguity" as to what the United States will do to keep the Venezuelan regime--led by the "illegitimate" Nicolás Maduro--guessing. The vagueness coincides with a massive and unprecedented U.S. military buildup in the region that features the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and about 15,000 troops, while U.S. forces stand ready for possible attack orders, considering the involvement of elite Delta Force units.
The possible strike is highly controversial, coming in direct conflict with public pledges by the President to avoid new conflicts and assurances to Congress that no active preparations were at hand. Members of Congress are challenging the administration's legal rationale - an attempt to merge criminal drug trafficking law with the laws of armed conflict - as suffering from a "major trust deficit." That rationale likens narcotics to "chemical weapons" and claims lethal boat strikes under "Operation Southern Spear" are needed for "collective self-defense." But experts overwhelmingly reject that premise, citing that it is a civilian offense and, as such, does not qualify as an armed attack under international law.
Adding to the domestic controversy, the U.S. military surge has also chilled relations with key Latin American partners. Colombia, a longtime counter-narcotics partner, has suspended intelligence sharing with the U.S. over human rights concerns about the U.S. strikes. Likewise, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum received U.S. officials seeking to prevent future strikes near Mexican territory; a compromise was reportedly reached in which the Mexican navy would be responsible for intercepting suspected vessels. These responses highlight the diplomatic danger of a military expansion, which some believe is really aimed at the forced ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
