The story unfolded as President Donald Trump described a U.S. strike on a dockside facility along Venezuela’s coast while meeting in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump said the strike hit the area where he described drug-carrying boats as loading up, as he pushed an escalating pressure campaign targeting what the Trump administration says are smuggling operations connected to narcotics bound for the United States.
Trump’s comments built on remarks he made earlier that week, after an impromptu radio interview where he appeared to confirm a strike when asked about an “explosion in Venezuela.” In Monday’s exchange with reporters, Trump said, “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” describing it as “the implementation area,” and he added: “And that is no longer around.”
While the remarks suggested movement closer to shore, Trump offered few operational details about the claimed dock strike. He declined to say if U.S. military forces or the CIA were responsible and did not confirm whether the attack occurred in Venezuela. Asked for specifics, Trump said, “I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was. But you know it was along the shore,” according to the AP account.
The AP report said Trump first referenced the strike on Friday, calling radio host John Catsimatidis during a WABC radio program and discussing U.S. strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats. Trump told the host that the U.S. had “knocked that out” after the administration faced questions about a “big plant or a big facility where they send the” ships, while offering no further details.
U.S. officials did not immediately provide additional information when AP sought comment. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a message seeking more details, and Venezuela’s government press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s statement. The report also noted that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and some U.S. military social media accounts have typically announced boat strikes after they occur, but there had been no post about a strike on a facility.
In parallel with Trump’s dock comments, the U.S. military said it carried out another strike Monday against an alleged smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people. The AP said the attacks have killed at least 107 people in 30 strikes since early September, citing numbers announced by the Trump administration.
Trump has, for months, suggested the U.S. might conduct strikes on land in South America, including in Venezuela or possibly another country, and in recent weeks has said the U.S. would move beyond strikes on boats and conduct strikes on land “soon.” In October, Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, and the AP report said the CIA did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday.
The Trump administration has described its operations as “armed conflict” with drug cartels and part of an effort to stop narcotics flowing into the United States. Along with strikes, the AP said the U.S. has sent warships, built up military forces in the region, seized two oil tankers, and pursued a third.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has insisted that the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him out of power. Separately, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro ‘cries uncle.’”