CNN reports the president is considering escalating operations against narcotics groups, heightening tensions with Maduro’s government.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

President Donald Trump is weighing options for launching military strikes against drug cartels inside Venezuela, CNN reported Friday, citing multiple sources familiar with the discussions. The consideration follows a U.S. raid earlier this week in the southern Caribbean that destroyed a Venezuelan vessel and left 11 people dead.

Trump said the targeted boat was transporting “massive amounts of drugs,” framing the strike as the opening move of a broader campaign to dismantle narcotics trafficking networks across the region. According to CNN, the administration sees the operations as potentially destabilizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s hold on power.

Neither the White House nor Venezuela’s communications ministry responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. Asked Friday if his administration sought regime change in Caracas, Trump told reporters, “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.”

Maduro denounced the U.S. posture, urging Washington to step back from what he called interference in Latin America. “The government of the United States should abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America and respect sovereignty, the right to peace, to independence,” he said.

The possible escalation underscores the administration’s willingness to extend military action deeper into Venezuelan territory as part of its anti-narcotics strategy, a move that risks fueling wider tensions in the hemisphere.