WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump is deploying two additional naval vessels to the Caribbean as part of an intensified campaign to disrupt drug trafficking operations, a U.S. official confirmed Tuesday. The decision comes one week after the administration ordered three warships to waters near Venezuela.
The new deployment will include the USS Erie, a guided-missile cruiser, and the USS Newport News, a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine. Both are expected to arrive in the region next week, according to the official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
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Trump’s initiative, framed by the White House as a crackdown on “narco-terrorist groups,” is widely seen as an extension of his administration’s escalating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Earlier this month, Washington doubled its bounty on Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of leading a regime deeply entangled in drug trafficking.
Maduro has rejected the charges, calling them part of a U.S.-backed campaign to destabilize his government. In response to the military buildup, he vowed to mobilize millions of Venezuelan militia members to confront what he described as mounting American “threats.”
The expanded U.S. naval presence underscores rising tensions in the region, where both Washington and Caracas are signaling readiness for confrontation.
