The United States is deploying the Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean as part of President Donald Trump’s escalating pressure campaign on Venezuela.
BREAKING: US deploys Ford carrier strike group to Southern Command area of responsibility to combat drug trafficking pic.twitter.com/QohYVxPJ8G
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 24, 2025
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the redeployment from Europe to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism,” according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
US deploys Ford carrier strike group to target suspected drug vessels in Western Hemisphere https://t.co/BJzM1jyPam pic.twitter.com/Ezy5w44zWN
— New York Post (@nypost) October 24, 2025
The Ford strike group, docked recently in Split, Croatia, is expected to take several days to reach the region.
The buildup follows an overnight U.S. strike on a narcotics-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean that killed six people, marking the tenth such strike since last month and bringing the death toll to 43.
Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out yet another lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Yet again, the now-deceased terrorists were engaged in narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 23, 2025
The… pic.twitter.com/PEaKmakivD
While the White House insists the buildup is part of an anti-drug operation, Trump is reportedly weighing military strikes inside Venezuela to weaken Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
The Ford’s deployment, analysts say, signals a significant escalation of American military presence in Latin America under Trump’s directive.
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TIPP Staff
TIPP Staff
