A source familiar with the Trump administration’s counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean confirmed to The War Zone that 10 F-35 Joint Strike fighters have been ordered to fly to Puerto Rico to take part in that mission. This confirms an earlier report by Reuters. The jets are expected to arrive in Puerto Rico next week. It is unclear which branch they belong to, where they are coming from or what they will do once they arrive.
Word of the deployment of fighters comes a day after Venezuelan F-16s made a pass near a U.S. Navy destroyer operating in the Caribbean, the latest in the escalating tensions between Venezuela and the United States.
“The interaction was highly provocative, and clearly a show of force,” a U.S. official told The War Zone Friday morning about the two Venezuelan F-16s that flew near the USS Jason Dunham.
The approach on the destroyer came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said the military attacked a boat belonging to the “Venezuelan Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists,” who are closely aligned with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Trump released a video of the attack, which he said killed 11 narco-traffickers. Though the president signed a still-secret memo in July authorizing the use of military force against groups designed as narco-terror organizations, the incident has raised questions about the legality of carrying out such a strike without Congressional authority, among other issues.
The boat had been ordered to stop before it was destroyed, Fox News reported on X.
As part of his claimed effort to stem the flow of drugs from the region, Trump had previously ordered at least eight warships to the region, plus additional surveillance and strike assets.
A U.S. official provided us with an update Friday morning on the location of the Navy assets in the region in addition to the Dunham.
The 22nd MEU, part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), left Norfolk Aug. 14, bound for the southern Caribbean. That force included more than 4,500 sailors and Marines on three ships: The Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships the USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale. Those vessels remain off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, where Marines and sailors were conducting amphibious landing training. You can read more about that in our story here.
In addition to the ARG/MEU ships, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Gravely remains underway in the southern Caribbean, the official told us.
Meanwhile, at least two Navy warships have reached or transited the Panama Canal. The Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie recently passed through the canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean. The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Sampson remains docked on the Pacific side of the canal. Citing official policy about publicizing the location of its submarine force, the official declined to provide the whereabouts of the Los Angeles class fast attack submarine USS Newport News, which is also taking part in this effort.
Though aimed at groups considered narco-terrorist organizations, an official with direct knowledge of these operations told TWZ last week that they are also aimed at Maduro. He was indicted in a New York federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency. He and 14 others, including several close allies, were hit with federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy with the Colombian FARC insurgent group to import cocaine. The U.S. government has issued a $50 million reward for Maduro’s capture.
The F-35s bring a wide array of capabilities wherever they are deployed. While best known for their kinetic capabilities, including striking targets and taking on enemy aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter is an extremely powerful intelligence gathering tool, with its highly capable radar and electro-optical systems. Yet its electronic intelligence gathering ability is perhaps its most potent reconnaissance asset. You can read more about that here.
This is a developing story.
Update 1:20 PM Eastern –
During a trip to Fort Benning, Georgia on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered additional justification for the deadly strike against the cartel drug boat earlier this week. He likened the alleged smugglers killed to notorious terrorists.
“Coming from a drug cartel is no different than coming from Al-Qaeda,” Hegseth proclaimed to reporters. “And they will be treated as such, as they were, in international waters.”
“We smoked a drug boat and there are 11 narcoterrorists at the bottom of the ocean,” he posited. “And when other people do that, they are going to meet the same fate. We knew exactly who they were, exactly what they were doing, what they represented, and why they were going where they were going.”
Update: 3:24 PM Eastern –
Video emerged on social media of the Iwo Jima off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Update: 5:36 PM Eastern –
During the White House ceremony announcing he was changing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, Trump was asked if he was looking to change the regime in Venezuela.
“We’re not talking about that, but we are talking about the fact that you had an election, which was a very strange election to put it mildly, I’m being very nice when I say that. I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela.”
Trump again claimed that the alleged smuggling boat that was destroyed was full of drugs.
“And when you look at that boat, you…see the bags of whatever it is that those bags. You know, those bags represent hundreds of thousands of dead people in the United States. That’s what they represent.”
The president also claimed, without proof, that “300,000 to 350,000 people died last year from drugs” in the U.S.
Regardless of the actual numbers, Trump said he was going to continue ordering lethal strikes against smugglers.
“And when I see folks coming in, like loaded up the other day with all sorts of drugs, probably fentanyl, mostly, but all sorts of drugs, we’re going to take them out,” the president vowed. “And if people want to have fun going on the high seas or the low seas, they’re going to be in trouble.”
Trump added that aircraft that get too close to U.S. ships will be destroyed.
“Well, I would say they ‘re gonna be in trouble,” Trump responded to a question about what would happen if Venezuelan jets fly over U.S. warships.
Trump then turned to Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was also at the event.
“But I would say, general, if they do that, you have a choice of doing anything you want, okay?” the president told Caine. “If they fly in a dangerous position, I would say that you can, you or your captains can make the decision to what they want to do.”
Trump declined to say how close the jets came to the Dunham.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” said Trump. “But if they do put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down.”
Meanwhile, the American leader said his actions are having an effect.
“I will tell you, boat traffic is substantially down in the area that [boat attack] happened,” Trump further explained. “And they called it the runway. It’s a runway to the United States, and boat traffic is very substantially down on the runway. You can imagine why.”
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