Claims that the US has begun land strikes on Venezuela surged overnight, but the only detailed account in the notes is reporting of a CIA drone strike earlier this month on a coastal port facility that sources say Trump has been referencing.
“Major explosion in the dock area, where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs… and now we hit the area, it’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement, and that is no longer around,” President Donald Trump said in front of reporters while he’s beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the latter’s visit in Mar-a-Lago.
The spark for broader attention was Trump’s remarks on WABC Radio’s “The Cats & Cosby Show,” where he described a strike on “a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from,” adding, “two nights ago we knocked that out, so we hit them very hard.”
In the same set of remarks, Trump also claimed, “every time I knock out a boat, we save 25,000 American lives,” and asserted “drugs are down over 97%.”
Zerohedge framed the episode as a missed-news disclosure, writing that Trump “let slip” the facility was knocked out by a US strike from forces in the Caribbean, while noting he did not explicitly identify the country during the interview and that no regional government had publicly disclosed such a strike in real time.
CNN’s Natasha Bertrand reported that the CIA carried out a drone strike earlier this month on a “port facility on the coast of Venezuela,” which CNN described as the first known US attack on a target inside the country. They said the target was “a remote dock” the US government believed was used by Tren de Aragua to store drugs and move them onto boats for onward shipping, and that “no one was present” so there were “no casualties.”
In the report, it was cited that two sources said US Special Operations Forces provided intelligence support, but also reported a denial from US Special Operations Command spokesperson Col. Allie Weiskopf.
“Special Operations did not support this operation to include intel support,” they said.
It was reported that the US has destroyed “more than 30 boats” in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in a campaign described as counter-narcotics, and that Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela.
Furthermore, Trump reportedly declined to say whether the strike was conducted by the military or the CIA.
Independent confirmation remains limited so it can be argued that no one can be sure yet whether the strike happened or whether, as critics would put it, Trump is “just confused.”
Information for this briefing was found via CNN, Zero Hedge, and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
