What to know about a rapid US military buildup in the Caribbean

President Nicolás Maduro during a ceremony to swear in new members of a national militia in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 7, 2025. The Pentagon dispatched 10 F-35 stealth fighters to Puerto Rico on Friday to deter more Venezuelan flyovers and to be positioned should President Donald Trump order airstrikes against targets in Venezuela. (The New York Times)

By ERIC SCHMITT

The rapid U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean Sea culminated last week with a deadly strike against a drug vessel that the Trump administration said had departed from Venezuela.

U.S. officials said the attack on a speedboat Tuesday killed 11 drug traffickers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both said the military would carry out more strikes in the coming weeks as part of a counternarcotics and counterterrorism campaign.

But Thursday, two armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets buzzed a Navy guided-missile destroyer in the region in a show of force, dialing up tensions between Washington and the government of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.

In response, the Pentagon dispatched 10 F-35 stealth fighters to Puerto Rico on Friday to deter more Venezuelan flyovers and to be positioned should Trump order airstrikes against targets in Venezuela.

Here is a look at how the United States and Venezuela got to this point, and what military action might come next.

Why is the U.S. sending warships and surveillance planes to the Caribbean?

President Donald Trump signed a still-secret directive in July ordering the Pentagon to use military force against some Latin American drug cartels that his administration has labeled “terrorist” organizations.

Around the same time, the administration declared that a Venezuelan criminal group was a terrorist organization and that Maduro was its leader.

Soon after, the Pentagon began amassing a small armada of ships and planes to monitor the supposed drug traffickers and to pick targets to attack.

How much military force has the Pentagon assembled in the region?

The military so far has deployed eight warships, several Navy P-8 surveillance planes and one attack submarine to the region. The Pentagon has offered few details on the force’s objectives and locations.

The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group — including the USS San Antonio, the USS Iwo Jima and the USS Fort Lauderdale, carrying 4,500 sailors —was steaming near Puerto Rico on Friday, Defense Department officials said. So was the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, with 2,200 Marines. The Iwo Jima is equipped with AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft.

Two Navy guided-missile destroyers — the USS Jason Dunham and the USS Gravely — are operating in the southern Caribbean. Both warships had recently joined the campaign against the Houthi militia in the Red Sea. A third destroyer, the USS Sampson, now in the eastern Pacific, may soon join, one Navy official said.

These warships are Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, equipped with more than 90 missiles, including surface-to-air missiles. They can conduct antiaircraft and anti-submarine warfare, and shoot down ballistic missiles.

In addition, the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the littoral combat ship Minneapolis-St. Paul are also operating in the Caribbean.

How has Venezuela responded?

Maduro has warned that he would respond to any U.S. military action with an “armed fight,” and claimed that Rubio was trying to draw Trump into a war in the Caribbean that would taint his reputation.

“Mr. President, Donald Trump,” the Venezuelan leader said earlier this week, “watch out, because Mr. Rubio wants to stain your hands with blood.”

Maduro called the naval buildup “the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years,” in the form of “eight military ships with 1,200 missiles” targeting Venezuela.

The Venezuelan leader also announced that he was deploying 4.5 million militiamen around his country, and vowed to “defend our seas, our skies and our lands” from any incursions.

What other military action might the U.S. take?

The size of the military buildup has led to speculation over whether Trump’s real goal is to oust Maduro, through military action or other pressure.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, was asked recently about the troop movements and whether the administration was considering putting forces on the ground in Venezuela. She responded by calling Maduro illegitimate and invoking his indictment, late in the first Trump administration, on U.S. drug trafficking charges.

Trump, she said, was “prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a narco-terror cartel.”

The U.S. force now in the Caribbean is too small to conduct a land invasion of Venezuela, military officials said. But Special Operations commanders say commandos could launch targeted raids or capture-or-kill missions from the Navy ships.

Maduro has threatened to respond to an armed attack in Venezuela with “maximum rebellion.”

After the Venezuelan fighter flyover Thursday, the Trump administration issued a veiled threat of more attacks to come.

“The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations carried out by the U.S. military,” the Pentagon said in a statement.