Trump mulls strikes on Venezuelan land targets
By: Josy Garrison
USA Today
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said he is considering U.S. military strikes on land targets to combat the flow of drugs from Venezuelan cartels into the United States after five recent maritime attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats.
.....
"We are certainly looking at land now because we've got the ea very well under control," Trump told reporters October 15. [2025]
..... Trump made the remarks after The New York Times reporter that the Trump administratrix has secretly authorized the CIA to conduct covert actions in Venezuela in an escalation of tis campaign against Venezuelan President Micolas Maduro;s regime. It would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean, the Times reported.
..... Trump confirmed the report, saying the action is in response to Venezuelan migrants and drugs entering the United States.
..... He addled that the United States has made progress intercepting drug shipments at sea, and that additional efforts are now focused on overland routes.
..... "A lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also, Trump said.
..... Trump did not specify locations for potential strikes on land targets.
.....
Asked by a reporter whether the CIA has the authority to "take out" Maduro, Trump responded; "Wouldn't it be ridiculous question for me to answer? But I think Venezuela is feeling heat."
..... The U.S. military on October 14 [2025] carried out its fifth attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea since September, [2025] killing six people. Trump said they were "narco-terrorists" trying to bring illegal narcotics in the United States. In all 26 people have been killed in the five boat attacks.
..... Trump in February designated some drug cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," a more administration officials argue gives them legal justification for the strikes.
.....
But the Trump administration has yet to deliver evidence OT Congress supporting claims the alleged drug-smuggling boats were carrying narcotics. Democratic and other critics have questioned the legal basis for Trump to use the military to hit boats that don't pose an immediate threat of an attack - even if they were carrying drugs.
..... Reuters could not independently determine what specific actions Trump has authorized, and the White House declined to elaborate on the president's comments.
..... The CIA has a long history of operations in Latin America, particularly during the Cold War, and helped topple South America's cocaine trafficking empires at the end of the 20th century. Reuters has reported that the CIA has been running covert pertains in Mexico for years to track down the country's most-wanted drug traffickers.
..... Venezuela's government said Trump's remarks constituted a violation of international law and said U.S. actions were aimed at legitimizing a "regime change" operation with the goal of seizing the country's oil resources.
..... Contributing: Reuters