Trump Escalates Pressure on Venezuela, but Endgame Is Unclear
Trump Escalates Pressure on Venezuela, but Endgame Is Unclear
President Trump’s aides have provided conflicting accounts of what, exactly, they are seeking to achieve, as America’s largest aircraft carrier heads toward the Caribbean region.
“Either Trump is going to win or Maduro is going to win,” said Elliott Abrams, Mr. Trump’s special adviser on Venezuela in the first administration, and now a scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
Listen to this article · 10:51 min Learn more
- Share full article
By David E. SangerEric SchmittTyler Pager and Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Reporting from Washington
- Published Nov. 14, 2025Updated Nov. 15, 2025, 2:45 p.m. ET
The Trump administration is rapidly escalating its pressure campaign against Venezuela, with America’s largest aircraft carrier, the Ford, about to take up a position within striking distance of the country, even as President Trump’s aides provide conflicting accounts of what, exactly, they are seeking to achieve.
Mr. Trump held back-to-back days of meetings at the White House over the past two days, reviewing military options, including the use of Special Operations forces and direct action inside Venezuela.
It is still not clear whether Mr. Trump has made a decision about what kind of action to authorize, if any. On Friday, he told reporters on Air Force One that “I sort of made up my mind.” “I can’t tell you what it is,” he said, “but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in.”
It is possible Mr. Trump is relying on the arrival of so much firepower to intimidate the government of Nicolás Maduro, who the United States and many of its allies say is not Venezuela’s legitimate president. Mr. Maduro has put his forces on high alert, leaving the two countries with their weapons cocked and ready for war.
Advertisement
There were signs that the administration was moving into a new and more aggressive posture. Shortly after a meeting on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on social media that the mission in the Caribbean now had a name — “Southern Spear.” He described its goal in expansive terms, saying the operation “removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere.”
“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood,” he wrote, “and we will protect it.” With the arrival of the Ford and three accompanying missile-firing Navy destroyers, there are now 15,000 troops in the region, more than there have been at any time in decades.
Editors’ Picks
The Dogs of 8,000 B.C. Were Amazingly DiverseFour Bakery-Worthy Desserts to Make at HomeAn Upstate Home Designed to House Artistic Obsessions
The only thing missing is a strategic explanation from the Trump administration that would clarify why the United States is amassing such a large force. Mr. Hegseth’s posting on X was only the latest in a series of statements from administration officials that, at best, are in tension with one another. Some are outright contradictory.
Mr. Trump has been the most consistent, saying it is all about drugs. But that would not explain why the Ford was rushed from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean region, adding to an American force that has now reached 15,000 soldiers and sailors, to attack small boats that until early September had been intercepted by the Coast Guard. Nor would it explain why Colombia or Mexico — Mexico being the main conduit for fentanyl — are not in the Navy’s sights.
Advertisement
One thought on “Trump Escalates Pressure on Venezuela, but Endgame Is Unclear”
Comments are closed.
Excellent article — the FAQs section was particularly useful.