Washington, D.C. – October 25, 2025 – In a major escalation, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the deployment of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), and its strike group—including five destroyers—to the Caribbean Sea off Venezuela’s coast. The Pentagon confirmed the move supports SOUTHCOM’s campaign against drug trafficking and transnational crime, joining 8 warships, a nuclear submarine, and F-35 jets already in the region—~6,000 sailors and Marines.

The carrier, redirected from the Mediterranean, arrives ~1 week after 10 U.S. strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats killed 43, including Tren de Aragua gang members. Hegseth called the latest strike “overnight success” in international waters. Trump eyes land strikes on cocaine labs, briefing Congress on regime change plans against Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro vows insurrection, praising Venezuela’s readiness. Hegseth compared it to the War on Terror post-9/11. B-1B bombers flew 20 miles off Venezuela’s coast October 27.