Adding to the speculation, the U.S. military since early September has been carrying out lethal strikes on vessels in the waters off Venezuela that Trump says are trafficking drugs. <\/p>\n
According to flight tracking data, a pair of B-1 Lancer bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on Thursday and flew through the Caribbean and up to the coast of Venezuela. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, confirmed that a training flight of B-1s took place in the Caribbean. <\/p>\n
The B-1 bomber can carry more bombs than any other plane in the U.S. inventory.<\/p>\n
A similar flight of slower B-52 Stratofortress bombers was conducted in the region last week. The bombers were joined by Marine Corps F-35B stealth fighter jets \u2014 a squadron is currently based in Puerto Rico \u2014 for what the Pentagon called a \u201cbomber attack demo\u201d in photos online<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Trump was asked about Thursday\u2019s B-1 flight and if it was meant to ramp up military pressure on Venezuela, he said, \u201cit\u2019s false, but we\u2019re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons. Drugs being one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n President Donald Trump talks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a roundtable on criminal cartels in the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/p>\n President Donald Trump talks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a roundtable on criminal cartels in the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n The U.S. force in the Caribbean includes eight warships, P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones and an F-35 fighter squadron. A submarine has also been confirmed to be operating in the waters off South America.<\/p>\n Trump on Wednesday said he has the \u201clegal authority\u201d to carry out the strikes on the alleged drug-carrying boats and suggested similar strikes could be done on land.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will hit them very hard when they come in by land,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. \u201cWe\u2019re totally prepared to do that. And we\u2019ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we\u2019re doing when we come to the land.\u201d<\/p>\n Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the military had conducted its ninth strike,<\/a> killing three people in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It followed a strike Tuesday night, also in the eastern Pacific, that killed two people and brought the overall death toll from the strikes to at least 37.<\/p>\n The latest pair of strikes expanded the Trump administration\u2019s campaign against drug trafficking in South America<\/a> from the waters of the Caribbean to the eastern Pacific. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n