Personnel walk past U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter jets parked on the tarmac of the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Base, amid tensions between the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, December 30, 2025. | Photo credit: EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI
The operation was not previously made public and marks a significant escalation in Washington’s actions against Venezuela. CNN quoted two sources as saying that US Special Operations Forces had provided intelligence for the attack, although this claim was rejected by US Special Operations Command.
Colonel Allie Weiskopf, spokesperson for the US Special Operations Command, said: “Special Operations did not support this operation or provide any intelligence support,” CNN quoted. Last Friday, US President Donald Trump indirectly confirmed the strike during a media interview, although he did not provide details at the time. Earlier on Monday, Trump, while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at his Mar-a-lago club in Florida, said the US had attacked a port area used to load boats involved in drug trafficking, but declined to clarify whether the military or the CIA carried out the operation.
He said there was “a big explosion in the port area where they are loading the boats with drugs.”
“So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area, it’s a deployment area, that’s where they deploy, and that doesn’t exist anymore,” Trump added.
When asked whether the US military carried out the operation in Venezuela, Trump declined to clarify. “I don’t want to say that,” he said, CNN reported.
‘I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was. But you know, it was along the coast.”
Trump first announced the operation during a recent interview, where he said the US had hit “a major factory or a major facility,” adding, “We took that out,” CNN quoted.
The drone strike comes amid increasing US pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Washington has stepped up actions aimed at weakening Maduro’s government, including repeated threats of direct attacks inside the country.
In recent months, the US has destroyed more than 30 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics campaign. These operations took place in international waters. The latest strike marks a shift as it was carried out on Venezuelan territory, CNN reported. Trump has also ordered a blockade of oil tankers linked to Venezuela, especially those subject to US sanctions, further increasing economic pressure on Caracas.
Published on December 31, 2025
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