U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of ten F-35 stealth fighter jets to Puerto Rico.
According to multiple news agencies, the move comes as Trump reportedly considers military strikes against drug cartels operating within Venezuela. U.S. officials said, the advanced aircraft are part of a broader strategy targeting Latin American cartels that Washington has designated as narco-terrorist organizations.
The deployment marks a significant escalation in U.S. efforts to curb the flow of illegal drugs from the region and increases military presence in the Caribbean amid rising tensions with Venezuela’s government.
The United States is not talking about regime change in Venezuela, President Donald Trump said on Friday, as the United States ordered an additional 10 stealth fighter jets to a military buildup in the Caribbean.
“We’re not talking about that, but we are talking about the fact that you had an election which was a very strange election, to put it mildly,” Trump said, referring to the contested 2024 election the Venezuelan government says President Nicolas Maduro won.
Sources in the US told news agencies on Friday that 10 of the advanced fighter jets are being sent to an airfield in Puerto Rico as part of operations against Latin American drug cartels designated “narco-terrorist” organisations by Washington.
American broadcaster CNN, citing multiple sources, reported on Friday that the Trump administration is considering attacks on drug trafficking groups inside Venezuela, which would mark a dramatic escalation in already surging tensions between Washington and Caracas.