US moves more troops and special ops aircraft to Caribbean as Trump ramps up pressure in region: report

Source: The Independent

Tuesday 23 December 2025 16:59 EST


More U.S. assets including special ops aircraft and troops arrived in the Caribbean this week as Donald Trump reiterated on Monday that ground-based operations targeting drug traffickers in Venezuela would soon begin, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

The newspaper cited U.S. officials as well as open-source flight data. The most recent deployments occurred this week, according to the Journal, days before the Christmas holiday and occurring as the president unveiled his plans for new “Trump-class” warships during a special announcement from Palm Beach, Florida, with his top Cabinet aides, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

During the event on Monday, the president confirmed that the U.S. would continue targeting small vessels that his administration claims are carrying drugs with military strikes, while also escalating interdictions of oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast for sanctions violations. Dozens of vessels off the coast of Venezuela are part of the so-called “shadow fleet” of ships that help Venezuela skirt U.S. sanctions by transporting oil to other countries while disguising their location data.

The latest deployment included a “large number” of assets, according to the Journal, including at least 10 Osprey aircraft used by U.S. special forces. U.S. Southern Command declined to comment to the paper on the deployments.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-military-caribbean-venezuela-aircraft-b2889802.html