The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, the U.S. Navy’s most advanced advanced aircraft carrier strike group that is currently stationed in Europe, has been ordered to deploy from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean as part of an expanding U.S. military campaign targeting narco-terror networks.
The order also signals a more robust response to Venezuela’s involvement in the illegal drug trade.
President Donald Trump is considering plans to target cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes inside Venezuela, though he has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with them, three US officials told CNN.Outward signs on Friday pointed toward a major potential military escalation, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordering the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier strike group currently stationed in Europe to the Caribbean region amid a massive buildup of US forces there. Trump has also authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.The president has not ruled out taking a diplomatic approach with Venezuela to stem the flow of drugs into the US, two officials said, even after the administration cut off active talks with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. Venezuela is not known to be a major source of cocaine, but the Trump administration has been aggressively trying to link Maduro to the drug trade.“There are plans on the table that the president is considering” regarding operations on targets inside Venezuelan, one administration official told CNN, adding that “he hasn’t ruled out diplomacy.
The task force, which includes 6000 troops, will join two destroyers that are currently in the region.
The USS Gerald R. Ford is the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier. It was one of two carrier strike groups rushed to the Middle East in October 2023 as part of a show of force and spent three months deployed there. The Navy amassed a large force at sea near Yemen for a year and a half, deploying multiple carrier strike groups — often with two deployed there at the same time — while fighting against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and surrounding waters.The Ford strike group is currently in the Mediterranean Sea. It will join a large contingent of ships, including three destroyers and the three-ship Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group on which the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is embarked.The current force already includes more than 6,000 troops. Additionally, the U.S. has flown several U.S. Air Force B-52s and B-1 bombers near Venezuela this month. Marine Corps F-35 fighter jets and several military drones have been deployed to Puerto Rico and SOUTHCOM has said it is organizing its forces deployed for counter-narcotics operations into a joint task force overseen by II Marine Expeditionary Force.
During a recent cabinet roundtable at the White House, President Donald Trump laid out his strategic vision for the drug traffickers.
“But we’ve been capturing these boats for years, and they get back into the system, they do it again and again and again, and they don’t fear that, they have no fear,” he told reporters.Asked whether Trump would go to Congress to ask for a declaration of war to authorize the ongoing strikes against boats, the president declined to do so.“Well, I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country.”“We’re going to kill them,” Trump added. “They’re going to be, like, dead.”
This strike force should help him achieve this goal.
The strike group is expected to reach the Caribbean within 7–10 days, depending on speed and operational stops along the transatlantic route. So, the end of next week should be….interesting.
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