REPORT: US To Bomb Venezuela As Officials Target ‘Al-Qaeda Of The West’

The Trump administration is preparing to hit military targets inside Venezuela as part of its escalating campaign against drug cartels, according to a report — a dramatic step aimed squarely at ousting socialist strongman Nicolás Maduro.

Naval and air installations tied to narcotics trafficking by the Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles networks are on the strike list, the Miami Herald reported, citing officials briefed on the plans. Sources said airstrikes could begin within days — even hours — as pressure tightens on the socialist ruler.

“He’s about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to,” one source told the outlet. “What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming.”

President Donald Trump and his national security team see Maduro as a direct threat to the United States, accusing him of turning Venezuela into a narcotics hub aimed at harming Americans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly shaped the strategy.

“You have a narco-state in Venezuela run by a cartel,” Rubio told reporters last week. “This is an operation against narco-terrorists, the al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere … and they need to be dealt with.”

Trump has already deployed the largest U.S. military force to the Caribbean since the Cold War. American forces have carried out 13 strikes on suspected smuggling vessels since early September, killing at least 57 alleged traffickers.

WATCH:

The president has made fentanyl — which killed roughly 70,000 Americans in 2023 and factored into about 70% of overdose deaths — the centerpiece of his anti-drug push. On Thursday, Trump and first lady Melania Trump hosted a Halloween event at the White House as the administration signaled it’s ready to move aggressively overseas.

“President Trump has been clear in his message to Maduro: stop sending drugs and criminals to our country,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. “The president is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our homeland.”

Most illicit fentanyl flows through Mexico using precursor chemicals from China, but Venezuela has served as a major transit route for Colombian cocaine for decades — and U.S. officials say Maduro’s regime has only deepened those ties.

If the plans move forward, the strikes would mark one of the boldest foreign-policy escalations of Trump’s second term — and a direct warning to any regime accused of fueling America’s deadly drug crisis.

Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST >>