Trump Denies US Plans to Strike Inside Venezuela

US President Donald Trump on Saturday dismissed reports that Washington is planning military strikes inside Venezuela as part of its campaign to curb regional drug trafficking, calling the claims “not true.”

The statement comes amid growing speculation following media reports suggesting the US military was considering targeting cocaine facilities and trafficking routes within Venezuelan territory.

When asked directly about the reports, Trump replied simply: “No, it’s not true.”

The denial follows recent developments that have heightened speculation about possible US military action in Latin America.

US War Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier strike group, to relocate from Europe to the Caribbean – a move that many analysts interpret as a signal of potential escalation.

At the same time, Senator Lindsey Graham warned that land strikes in Venezuela remain “a real possibility,” describing them as part of a broader US effort to dismantle narco-trafficking networks across the region.

Meanwhile, the US military has continued a series of airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific over the past two months.

War Secretary Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday that the latest airstrike in the eastern Pacific targeted a vessel carrying narcotics, killing four people. The operation marked the 14th strike since early September and the 15th vessel destroyed, bringing the total death toll to at least 61.

The United Nations has sharply condemned the US operations, calling for an immediate halt to what it described as unlawful killings.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement that the reported strikes “find no justification in international law.”

The controversy underscores escalating tensions across the Caribbean and Latin America, where Washington has long sought to curb drug trafficking and smuggling operations. Agencies