Overview
- Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the Gerald R. Ford and its carrier air wing were ordered to U.S. Southern Command to reinforce operations against transnational criminal organizations and narcotics trafficking.
- The Ford is reported to be joined by the cruiser USS Normandy and destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney and USS Roosevelt, augmenting an existing regional U.S. presence of roughly eight warships, a nuclear submarine and fighter aircraft.
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused Washington of inventing a new or “eternal” war and his government says it has mobilized security forces and expanded militia training in response.
- Media tallies cite at least 43 fatalities from U.S. attacks on small vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, with the Trump administration describing the targets as drug‑trafficking boats.
- Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressed for oversight, with Senators Mike Rounds and Rand Paul seeking details, a bipartisan resolution proposed to restrict action against Venezuela without authorization, and intelligence leaders pressed for information as reports of a CIA covert action order heighten scrutiny.