Senior military leaders and White House advisers briefed President Trump this week on updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including possible land strikes. Key figures mentioned in the briefings included Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine, though officials said no final decision has been made. The USS Gerald R. Ford has joined other U.S. naval, air and special operations assets in SOUTHCOM's area of responsibility. Officials report that U.S. strikes over the past two months have targeted at least 21 suspected drug-running vessels, with roughly 80 alleged trafficker fatalities and two survivors repatriated.
Top U.S. Military Officials Brief Trump on Near‑Term Options for Venezuela, Including Possible Land Strikes
Senior military leaders and White House advisers briefed President Trump this week on updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including possible land strikes. Key figures mentioned in the briefings included Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine, though officials said no final decision has been made. The USS Gerald R. Ford has joined other U.S. naval, air and special operations assets in SOUTHCOM's area of responsibility. Officials report that U.S. strikes over the past two months have targeted at least 21 suspected drug-running vessels, with roughly 80 alleged trafficker fatalities and two survivors repatriated.
09:22 PM, 11/13/2025Conflict
Top U.S. Military Officials Brief Trump on Near‑Term Options for Venezuela
Senior military leaders and White House advisers on Wednesday presented President Trump with updated courses of action for potential operations in Venezuela, including the possibility of strikes on land, multiple people familiar with the White House meetings said.
Those who participated in the briefings included Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, alongside other senior defense and national security officials, the sources told CBS News. The officials stressed that no final decision had been made.
White House spokespeople and a Pentagon representative declined immediate comment. Sources said analysts from the U.S. intelligence community provided information used to frame the potential options. Several senior officials were unavailable to attend the sessions due to travel: a senior intelligence official was returning from an overseas trip, and the secretary of state was attending a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Canada.
Forces and activity in the region
Earlier this week the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group entered U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility. SOUTHCOM is the primary combatant command for operations in the Caribbean and South America. The Ford joined a force already deployed in the region that includes destroyers, aircraft and special operations assets.
Drug interdiction strikes and casualties
Over the past two months U.S. forces have conducted strikes against at least 21 vessels they say were ferrying drugs from South America to the United States. Officials indicate there have been 20 separate strike events to date, with one late-October operation targeting two boats. According to reports, at least 80 people identified by authorities as alleged smugglers were killed in those strikes; two survivors were repatriated to Ecuador and Colombia. The man returned to Ecuador was released after local authorities reported they found no evidence he had committed a crime.
At a defense summit in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Hegseth described the effort as an offensive against narcotics traffickers and issued a blunt warning to organized traffickers and designated foreign terrorist groups.
"My advice to foreign terrorist organizations is do not get in a boat. If you're trafficking drugs to poison the American people and we know you're from a designated terrorist organization, you're a foreign terrorist or trafficker — we will find you and we will kill you."
Sources said the White House discussions focused on operational options for the coming days, but stressed that any action would depend on further intelligence, legal review and diplomatic considerations.