Name: Largest US Aircraft Carrier Now in Latin American Region
Uploaded: 2025-11-12T08:42:36.000Z
Description: Trump declined to comment on the possibility that the U.S. military would carry out land strikes against Venezuela.

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On Nov. 11, the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group entered the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, strengthening America’s maritime presence in the Western Hemisphere, according to USS Gerald R. Ford Public Affairs.

The deployment was prompted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s directive, aligning the strike group’s mission with President Donald Trump’s call to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland,” according to the Navy <a href="https://www.fourthfleet.navy.mil/Press-Room/News/Article/4329586/gerald-r-ford-carrier-strike-group-enters-us-fourth-fleet/">press release</a>.

“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” said Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. “These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations.”

The carrier strike group includes over 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, which is capable of launching and recovering fixed-wing aircraft, operating around the clock in support of operations. The USS Gerald R. Ford stands as the world’s largest aircraft carrier and the biggest warship ever built.

According to the press release, the group will operate alongside the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and an embarked Marine expeditionary unit under a new joint task force that was “created to defeat and dismantle criminal networks that exploit our shared borders and maritime domains.”

"Through unwavering commitment and the precise use of our forces, we stand ready to combat the transnational threats that seek to destabilize our region,” said Adm. Alvin Holsey, Commander of U.S. Southern Command. “The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group's deployment represents a critical step in reinforcing our resolve to protect the security of the Western Hemisphere and the safety of the American homeland.”

In recent weeks, U.S. military activity in the Caribbean has intensified amid efforts to disrupt narcotics trafficking. On Nov. 10, Hegseth posted on social media that on Nov. 9, “two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” at the direction of Trump. “These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and were transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific."

Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/1987863821868732447?s=20">reported</a> that the strikes "were conducted in international waters and 3 male narco-terrorists were aboard each vessel. All 6 were killed. No U.S. forces were harmed," adding that: "Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people."

On Nov. 2, during a CBS 60 Minutes<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-says-he-doubts-us-will-go-to-war-with-venezuela-5938973"> interview</a>, Trump said he doubted that the United States would go to war with Venezuela despite the regional operations. “I doubt it. I don’t think so,” Trump said. “But they’ve been treating us very badly, not only on drugs. They’ve dumped hundreds of thousands of people into our country that we didn’t want.”

When asked whether the military operations were meant to counter narcotic activity in the Caribbean or to oust Maduro, Trump replied, “No, this is about many things.”

Trump suggested that the actions were a response to the illegal migration of Venezuelans to the United States and illegal drug trafficking.

“This is a country that allowed their prisons to be emptied into our country,” he said. “Millions of people a year walked into our country totally unchecked, unvetted. We had no idea who they were. And we’re never going to let that happen again.”

When asked whether Maduro’s days as Venezuela’s president are numbered, Trump replied: “I would say yeah. I think so, yeah.”

Trump declined to comment on the possibility that the U.S. military would carry out land strikes against Venezuela.

“I wouldn’t be inclined to say that I would do that. But because I don’t talk to a reporter about whether or not I’m going to strike,” the president said. “I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do with Venezuela, if I was going to do it or if I wasn’t going to do it.”

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