The Homeland Security Council will meet three times this week, including a large meeting on Thursday attended by President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, Secretary of the Army Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Cain, four U.S. officials and sources said.
President Trump was reportedly briefed on multiple military options.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, the U.S. president told reporters that “I can’t say what it’s going to be, but I’ve made up my mind to some degree” regarding Venezuela, suggesting a decision could be imminent.
However, Trump left the issue of his decision vague, saying, “We’ve made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of interdicting the flow of drugs.”
The US government continues to accuse President Nicolás Maduro’s government of ties to drug trafficking, an allegation rejected by the Caracas government. It is noteworthy that Western media have also repeatedly refuted claims that Caracas is a source of drugs trafficked to the United States.
The high-level talks come as the United States deploys significant military assets to the Southern Caribbean. The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group entered the region earlier this week with more than 75 aircraft and more than 5,000 personnel. F-35 fighter jets, warships, and nuclear submarines are also deployed near Venezuelan waters.
The escalation follows two months of deadly US attacks on vessels that Washington says are involved in drug trafficking. At least 20 ships were attacked in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, killing about 80 people. Legal experts, Democratic politicians, and several governments, including France, have questioned the legality of these operations and warned that the killings could amount to extrajudicial executions.
A Reuters visual inspection also found that the U.S. military is renovating a former Cold War-era naval base in Puerto Rico, suggesting preparations for sustained operations that could support potential action inside Venezuela.
MNA