Trump Warns of Land Strikes Against Drug Traffickers

President Donald Trump said “the land is going to be next” in his campaign to halt the flow of drugs into the US from Venezuela, the clearest indication yet that he’s preparing to broaden strikes that have so far been limited to targets at sea.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to notify Congress of the administration’s upcoming plans. He didn’t discuss targets, though, he has repeatedly suggested he could order the US military to escalate attacks by hitting cartel infrastructure on land.

“The land is going to be next,” Trump said. Turning to Hegseth, he added, “Pete, you go to Congress, you tell them about it. What are they going to do? Say, ‘gee, we don’t want to stop drugs pouring in’?”

“The land drugs are much more dangerous for them,” Trump said. “It’s going to be much more dangerous. You’ll be seeing that soon. So that’s the way it is.”

Striking targets on land would be a major escalation in tensions with Venezuela. In September, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered indefinite deployments of troops and assets across five states, expanding on his original mobilization of 15,000 soldiers, following the first of the US boat strikes.

Asked if he’d declare war against the cartels, Trump said he didn’t necessarily see any reason to do so. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country — okay?” he said. “We’re going to kill them, you know they’re going to be like dead.”

The Trump administration has already hit about a half dozen boats in the southern Caribbean since the start of September, saying the vessels were transporting drugs to the US. The strikes have added to tensions with Maduro and prompted speculation that Washington may be preparing to attack targets on land.

At the same event, Trump denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that B-1 bombers flew near Venezuela — while remaining in international airspace — to ramp up pressure on Maduro’s regime.

On Tuesday, the US struck a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, expanding airstrikes that so far had been limited to the Caribbean. Last week, Trump confirmed he had greenlit CIA activity in Venezuela, claiming the country’s leaders had “emptied their prisons into the United States” and were allowing drug shipments northward.