The White House pushed back on media reports suggesting that President Donald Trump’s administration had identified, and was imminently poised to strike, military targets within Venezuela.
Although Trump has signaled for weeks he’s prepared to launch land operations against Venezuela, the White House cast doubt on the new media reports.
‘Unnamed sources don’t know what they’re talking about,’ White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a Friday statement to Fox News Digital. ‘Any announcements regarding Venezuela policy would come directly from the President.’
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Trump administration had identified military targets within Venezuela that are being used to transport drugs, although the news outlet said that Trump hadn’t formalized a decision on whether he would launch land strikes against these targets.
Trump told reporters Friday on Air Force One a decision hadn’t been made about whether he would strike military targets within Venezuela, Bloomberg News reported.
Additionally, the Miami Herald reported Friday that the administration had decided to conduct strikes against these military installations within Venezuela that could come ‘in a matter of days or even hours.’
Both the Journal and the Miami Herald cited anonymous sources familiar with the plans.
The Herald reported that the pending strikes were part of a larger effort the Trump administration is initiating to crack down on the Cartel de los Soles, which Attorney General Pam Bondi has said Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro heads up.
The Trump administration does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state, and the administration beefed up the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, claiming he is ‘one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.’
Meanwhile, the U.S. military has ramped up its attacks against alleged drug boats in Latin America — totaling at least 14 strikes since the beginning of September. Additionally, Trump has instructed the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to head to the region.
Brent Sadler, a senior fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, said that the carrier’s presence means Trump has additional resources to conduct more strikes against cartels. Meanwhile, Trump has routinely said for weeks he may move ahead with land operations against Venezuela next, in addition to his sea strikes.
‘The Ford’s arrival in SOUTHCOM area is not unprecedented but given the ongoing attacks on Cartel boats significant. I see this move as intended to deter Venezuela from escalating the crisis and providing the President extra options should he want to increase the attacks on the Cartels,’ Sadler said in an email to Fox News Digital Monday. ‘That said, I would anticipate the Ford’s air wing being very active in air surveillance and defense.’
After news broke that the Ford would head to the region, Maduro accused Trump of ‘fabricating a new eternal war.’
‘They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war,’ Maduro said in a national broadcast on Friday.
Even so, not all lawmakers are on board with Trump’s strikes in Latin America. Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a war powers resolution in October to bar U.S. armed forces from engaging in ‘hostilities’ against Venezuela.
‘The Trump administration has made it clear they may launch military action inside Venezuela’s borders and won’t stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean,’ Schiff said in an Oct. 17 statement.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of War and has not yet received a response.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.