Donald Trump has ordered the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean in a major escalation in his war on narco-terrorists from Venezuela.
USS Gerald R. Ford is joining the deployment of US Southern Command, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Friday.
The 1,090-ft vessel — which can carry more than 75 warplanes — moves as part of a carrier strike group that includes a cruiser, three destroyers and nine aircraft squadrons.
It will ‘will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle’ the cartels, Parnell said in a statement.
The 100,000-ton warship joins the largest American force deployed to the Caribbean since the Cold War, including nuclear submarines, F-35 fighter jets, MQ-9 Reaper drones, P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance planes, and B-52 bombers.
Earlier on Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced another strike on a narco-terrorist boat in the region that killed six alleged drug smugglers.
The ‘lethal kinetic strike’ targeted a vessel operated by the infamous Tren de Aragua cartel, which has been flooding America with the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl.
‘If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you,’ Hegseth said in a statement.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, seen in the North Sea during NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise on September 24, 2025 in the North Sea
Video released by the Pentagon showed a ‘lethal kinetic strike’ on the vessel operated by the infamous Tren de Aragua cartel
‘If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you,’ Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement
The US has conducted nine lethal strikes on drug-smuggling boats since the start of September, resulting in 37 fatalities of cartel gangsters.
Among America’s fleet in the Caribbean, and raising alarm from defense experts, is a US Special Forces ‘ghost ship’ which moved into the region at the end of last month.
The innocuously named MV Ocean Trader, which often sails without broadcasting its location, is a converted commercial vessel — designed to blend in with regular shipping traffic for covert operations.
The US Military Sealift Command confirmed in late September that the ship is currently deployed in the Caribbean, but its mission has not been disclosed, according to armed-forces publication Task & Purpose. The US Special Operations Command has declined to comment.
Trump sparked concerns of escalation last month when he informed Congress that the US is engaged in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels, allowing the government to treat those killed as ‘unlawful combatants.’
The strikes primarily target smugglers from Venezuela where the socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro is not recognized as legitimate by Washington.
Maduro claims that he has mobilized millions of troops and has been flooding the airwaves with propaganda that Trump is a bloodthirsty fascist who plans to invade.
The president last week warned Maduro that he better not ‘f*** around with America’ as he spoke to reporters at the White House.
The US currently has around 10,000 troops in the Caribbean — the largest force since the Cold War, including multiple warships, nuclear submarines, F-35 fighter jets, MQ-9 Reaper drones, P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance planes, and B-52 bombers. Among the fleet, and raising alarm among defense experts, is the presence of a US Special Forces ‘ghost ship’ which moved into the region at the end of last month
Venezuelan military patrol around the Simon Bolivar International Bridge at the Colombia-Venezuela border as seen from Villa del Rosario, Colombia on October 16
Included in the US military buildup are the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the ‘Night Stalkers.’ The secretive unit runs missions for Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Delta Force and other elite commandos
Military experts say the true size of Maduro’s army is just 125,000 soldiers and his rusty Soviet-era hardware stands no chance against America’s warfighting machine.
Among the troops deployed be Trump to the Caribbean is the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the ‘Night Stalkers.’
The elite aviation unit provides precision air support for special operations forces including the Green Berets, the Navy SEALs and Delta Force.
Famously, two of its Black Hawks were shot during Operation Gothic Serpent in 1993 in Somalia, leading to one of the most intense urban firefights in modern history – and immortalized in the movie Black Hawk Dawn.
The storied unit has taken part in extensive counter-terrorism operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria in recent years.
The Night Stalkers, so-called for their capability to strike undetected during the hours of darkness, represent US special operations’ aviation backbone bringing stealth and precision.
Its soldiers proudly wear patches emblazoned with the regimental mottoes: ‘Night Stalkers Don’t Quit’ and ‘Death Waits in the Dark’.
They employ highly modified Chinook, Black Hawk and assault and attack configurations of Little Bird helicopters.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference with international media at Hotel Eurobuilding in Caracas on September 15
The Night Stalkers training with heavy ordinance at an unknown location
The Night Stalkers training with Little Bird helicopters
Around 90 miles from where Trump’s troops lie in wait, Russian-made fighter jets soar above the streets of Venezuela as intense training gathers pace.
Maduro is pumping out propaganda calling the US a Nazi state that wants to claim Venezuela’s oil as he rushes troops to the coastlines and the border with Colombia.
‘Raise your hands if you want to be a slave to the gringos,’ Maduro said last week. ‘If you want peace, get ready to earn peace. The people are ready for combat, ready for battle.’
He denounced Trump’s use of the CIA to institute a possible a regime change as ‘desperate.’
‘How long will the CIA continue to carry on with its coups? Latin America doesn’t want them, doesn’t need them and repudiates them,’ Maduro said in a televised address.
It comes after the Trump administration made the highly unusual disclosure last week that the CIA had been authorized to conduct secret operations in Venezuela.
The Pentagon announced on October 10 it is establishing a new counter-narcotics joint task force overseeing operations in Latin America, a move aimed to strengthen already intensifying military operations that have raised questions among legal experts.
US Southern Command, which oversees operations in Latin America, said the new task force would be led by II Marine Expeditionary Force, a muscular unit capable of rapid overseas operations which is based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Hegseth announced that Admiral Alvin Holsey – who leads US Southern Command – will step down at the end of this year, two years ahead of schedule, in a surprise move.
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Jack Reed, called Holsey’s unexpected resignation troubling given mounting fears of a potential US confrontation with Venezuela.
‘Admiral Holsey’s resignation only deepens my concern that this administration is ignoring the hard-earned lessons of previous US military campaigns and the advice of our most experienced warfighters,’ Reed said in a statement.
Holsey became the leader of US Southern Command only in November, overseeing an area that encompasses the Caribbean Sea and waters off South America.
These types of postings typically last between three and four years.
The attacks have alarmed Democratic lawmakers and raised questions among some legal experts, who see Trump testing the limits of the law as he expands the scope of presidential power.
The administration has not detailed what evidence it has against the vessels or individuals, has not said what type of munitions or platforms were used in the strikes or even what quantity of drugs the vessels were allegedly carrying.
Some former military lawyers say the legal explanations given by the Trump administration for killing suspected drug traffickers at sea instead of apprehending them fail to satisfy requirements under the law of war, which requires several criteria to be met before taking lethal action – including first using non-lethal means like firing warning shots.
Legal experts have also questioned why the military is carrying out the strikes instead of the Coast Guard, which is the main maritime law enforcement agency.
