Trump set to strike Venezuela in just 'hours or days' as war fears explode

The Trump Administration is reportedly preparing to strike targets inside Venezuela, including military facilities used to smuggle drugs, according to American media outlets. The strikes, which could come within days or hours, will aim to decapitate the cartel hierarchy in the country. The US Government claims the drug smuggling organisation in Venezuela is headed by strongman Nicolás Maduro and run by his lieutenants.

US officials have identified specific Venezuelan military facilities, including bases allegedly used for cocaine smuggling by the Cartel of the Suns, as potential targets for imminent airstrikes, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing administration sources.

Satellite imagery analysed by Newsweek reveals a US Caribbean task force, featuring the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima and six Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, positioned off Venezuela's coast in a configuration optimised for launching precision strikes on inland drug labs and airstrips.

The Trump administration has reportedly authorised fresh military operations beyond recent boat interdictions, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicating that US President Donald Trump could greenlight land-based attacks within days to dismantle Maduro-linked trafficking networks, as detailed in multiple outlets including The Yeshiva World.

The US military has conducted at least 10 lethal strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean since September, killing 43 alleged traffickers, with Mr Hegseth announcing the latest on October 22 as targeting boats from Venezuela.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez denounced these as "extrajudicial killings" and accused the U.S. of orchestrating a "false-flag operation" from Trinidad and Tobago waters to justify invasion, following the arrest of alleged CIA-linked mercenaries on October 27.

Mr Maduro, mobilising 25,000 troops and creating 284 "battle fronts" along borders, ordered exercises on La Orchila Island, warning of an "armed fight" against any incursion and branding the US naval presence-with eight warships, a submarine, and 10 F-35 stealth fighters in Puerto Rico-as the "greatest threat in 100 years."

Some international observers, including UN representatives, have nevertheless raised alarms over the strikes' legality without congressional approval.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pushing regime change, has tied the operations to broader counterterrorism goals, amid fears of regional spillover into Trinidad and Tobago.

As of October 31, Mr Trump has yet to greenlight land strikes, but the Pentagon's options-bolstered by the USS Gerald R Ford's 90 aircraft-signal a potential shift from interdictions to direct action, risking a constitutional clash over war powers.