As Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense.
Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion and the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. 'What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.'
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense.
Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion and the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counternarcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. 'What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.'
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense.
Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counternarcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. 'What began as a war on drugs, is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.'
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women?
The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense.
Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the aerospace defense command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return.
Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. 'What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.'
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies, and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized, and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women?
The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word, is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calmly doing what we have to do, preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear-armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies, and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized, and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women?
The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word, is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calmly doing what we have to do, preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear-armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies, and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant. In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized, and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word, is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calmly doing what we have to do, preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear-armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies, and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant. In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized, and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word, is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calmly doing what we have to do, preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where the emblem went, and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. 'These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere,' Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. 'And we are hunting them with the same precision,' he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco-terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco-terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco-terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco-terrorists. Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer. At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco-terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear-armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others. Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco-terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's instance against other threats to that in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and to fight decisive action that advances US interests.
This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Naragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking vessels, aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women?
The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself. They are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinino municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, groundbased or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Nana aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren dear. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around. Though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Uh, can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where the implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers and behind the scenes he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly framed this as a counter narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wilds, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegsth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narot terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere. And we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tanamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narotists threaten them as well. So we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narot terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A gamecher.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US cyber command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of glo global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rest upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is found which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's instance against other threats to that in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and defi decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivier and military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking vessels, aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women?
The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself. They are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinino municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, groundbased or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the aerospace defense command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto, Rinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Nana aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Polarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region. The Venezuelan gang known as Tren dear. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around. though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Uh can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where the implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wilds, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegsth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narot terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These naroterrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these naroterrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narotists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of glo global jihadism. As with narot terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is found which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narot terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's instance against other threats to that in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and to fight decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Ara, Maduro praised Venezuelan Defense Forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivieran military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivieran National Armed Force for remaining vigilant. In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military avation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking vessels, aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? the woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself. They are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinino municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. his acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true. from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, groundbased, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday With the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Nana aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Polarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region. The Venezuelan gang known as Tren dear. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around. though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Uh can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement it and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wilds, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegsth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narot terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them and we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narot terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narot terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build the Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of glo global jihadism. As with narot terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is found which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narot terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's instance against other threats to that in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and defi decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Naragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivieran military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivieran National Armed Force for remaining vigilant. In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking vessels, aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? the woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinino municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. his acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true. from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, groundbased, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday With the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Nana aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Polarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region. The Venezuelan gang known as Tren dear. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around. though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Uh can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where the implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wilds, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegsth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narotists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narot terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tanamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narotists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narot terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the national security strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Naragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they handle them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the national security strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Ara, Maduro praised Venezuelan Defense Forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the aerospace defense command. Eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they handle them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Ara, Maduro praised Venezuelan Defense Forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they handle them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always provide the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Naragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, that doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism.
As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland.
All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always... the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests.
This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the national security strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return.
Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, that doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement it and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism.
As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland.
All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always... the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests.
This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the national security strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return.
Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism.
As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland.
All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always... the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests.
This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return.
Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, that doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism.
As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland.
All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the president will always... the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests.
This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the national security strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses. The women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
That is true from a scientific and technological perspective, and perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return.
Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. The quiet dock hidden from view believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that the US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement them and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many. A message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda.
With the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build the Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory.
According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm, doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before. Duran, that is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region: the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement it and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic: one facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory.
According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm, doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before. Duran, that is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region: the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic: one facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory.
According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm, doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before. Duran, that is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, aerospace defense command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic: one facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. And we are hunting them with the same precision, he added. What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else. And Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs.
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere, are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So, we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, strategic defense initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech has caught up and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland. All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine recently codified so clearly in the national security strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies and President Nicolas Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory.
According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shut down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine. A world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. Ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression. So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation. We haven't fallen for any of it. Calm, doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before. Duran, that is true from a scientific and technological perspective. And perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the Aerospace Defense Command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Rinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return. Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012 when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolas Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that US special operations forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counter-narcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic: one facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted.
The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted. "These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere," Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. "And we are hunting them with the same precision," he added. "What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs."
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up, and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland.
All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear-armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies, and President Nicolás Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan defense forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
In 24 hours, the Bolivarian military aviation shot down and eliminated nine foreign drug trafficking aircraft on the border with Colombia and the border with Brazil. Nine, a world record. Only Venezuela. Who was the one responsible for this? It was the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, ever watchful with a stern and resolute expression.
So Venezuela is exceptionally well cared for and thoroughly protected by its Bolivarian National Armed Forces and by the most powerful force that Venezuela possesses: the women who are empowered, constantly mobilized, and actively engaged every single hour of every day without exception. The militia woman. Where are all of these brave militia women? The woman who belongs to the militia.
Maduro used the moment to project strength. He insisted the country is fully protected by its armed forces. The president then turned his fire outward, accusing the US media of imposing censorship on Venezuela. Maduro urged supporters to break what he called a media veto and to share what he described as the truth about the country. He dismissed international reporting as lies, saying Venezuela's reality is deliberately distorted.
From the United States and originating from within the United States itself, they are actively transmitting false news and waging a relentless war against a truly noble and sovereign country, a nation like Venezuela. Absolutely everything that they are saying, every single word, is a complete and utter lie. So all of you on social media, women in Spanish, in English, in Wayuu, you can break the veto and the censorship that is currently being imposed on you in the communication media of the United States regarding the truth about Venezuela.
But the official military account tells a slightly different story. The armed forces later reported that eight aircraft were disabled. The operation took place in the Alto Orinoco municipality, a remote border region near Brazil, often linked to trafficking routes. Authorities say the airspace crackdown is intensifying. So far this year, 39 aircraft have been disabled across Venezuela.
We stood our ground against them with unwavering determination. We have not succumbed to the temptations of imperialism. His acts of provocation, we haven't fallen for any of it. Calm, doing what we have to do. Preparing ourselves every day. I am very pleased with the cohesion of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. We are doing things we never did before.
From a scientific and technological perspective, and perhaps you may not be aware of this, but there is a very dedicated team of scientists constantly enhancing our advanced technological equipment, whether it's airborne, ground-based, or for air defense. Do we really consider that to be a small amount? I'm telling you, it was definitely not free at all. So when they want to come here and try to steal what rightfully belongs to us, just look at how yesterday, with the action of our air force, heroic Bolivarian military air force, the aerospace defense command, eight aircraft located in the municipality of Alto Orinoco, way over there in Amazonas. Eight aircraft. Yes. Eight aircraft directly linked to drug trafficking operations. They were left right there on the spot near the border with Brazil. They were left right there on the spot. They won't ever return.
Any aircraft associated with drug trafficking will be met with a response from the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, because this airspace and this territory will be defended and respected. We're already at 400 aircraft, 430 aircraft since the year 2012, when the control law for the comprehensive defense of Venezuelan airspace was implemented, promulgated, and sanctioned. There are 430 aircraft that we have left behind at the location. The armed forces, especially the Bolivarian National Guard, were fighting in the combat zone.
The rhetoric comes at a tense moment. The United States is expanding its military footprint nearby. Washington has increased deployments in the southern Caribbean, citing operations against drug trafficking and organized crime. The Trump administration has also seized two oil tankers, part of a declared blockade on vessels linked to Venezuela. In the shadows of the Caribbean, something unprecedented just happened. Earlier this month, the United States crossed a line it had never crossed before by launching a covert drone strike inside Venezuela. Not at sea, not in international waters, but on Venezuelan soil. According to a CNN report, the CIA carried out a precision strike on a remote port facility along Venezuela's coast. A quiet dock hidden from view, believed by US intelligence to be a key hub for one of the most dangerous criminal networks in the region, the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. American officials say the dock was being used to store drugs and load them onto boats for shipment across the Caribbean and beyond. When the drone struck, no one was there. No casualties, no warning, just destruction. And just like that, history changed. This was the first known US attack on a target inside Venezuela. A move that could dramatically escalate tensions with President Nicolás Maduro. He is the very same leader Washington has spent years trying to isolate, pressure, and force out of power. Sources told CNN that US Special Operations Forces helped provide intelligence for the strike, highlighting how deeply the US security apparatus is now involved in the region. But the Pentagon pushed back, denying any role in the mission. President Donald Trump appeared to quietly confirm the strike days later, almost in passing. He spoke of a big facility where ships come from, a dock, a loading point, an implementation area that, in his words, is no longer around, though he refused to say whether the military or the CIA pulled the trigger.
Mr. President, can you say anything more about the explosion in Venezuela that you mentioned in a radio interview? Did the military do that? Can you share any more details about that?
Well, it doesn't matter, but there was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around.
This strike did not happen in isolation. For months, the US has been pounding suspected drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, destroying more than 30 vessels. Trump has ordered blockades on sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. And behind the scenes, he has expanded the CIA's authority to operate across Latin America, including inside Venezuela itself. Officials publicly frame this as a counternarcotics war, but privately the message sounds far more political. Trump's own chief of staff, Susie Wiles, recently said the pressure campaign was designed to make Maduro cry uncle. One source described the dock strike as successful but symbolic. One facility destroyed among many, a message more than a knockout blow. And that message is clear. US officials are now openly comparing drug traffickers to terrorist organizations. The language has shifted. The tactics have shifted. The mission has shifted.
"These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere," Trump's war secretary, Pete Hegseth, recently declared. "And we are hunting them with the same precision," he added. "What began as a war on drugs is starting to look a lot like something else, and Venezuela is now firmly in the crosshairs."
The days in which these narco terrorists, designated terror organizations, operate freely in our hemisphere are over. These narco terrorists are the al-Qaeda of our hemisphere, and we are hunting them with the same sophistication and precision that we hunted al-Qaeda. We are tracking them. We are killing them. And we will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal that they're tantamount to chemical weapons. And we're not doing this on our own. Throughout our hemisphere, our allies and partners recognize that these narco terrorists threaten them as well. So we're working together, sometimes overtly, sometimes not, and we'll keep doing so for the sake of a safer, secure, and more stable hemisphere for all of us. But make no mistake, where a country cannot or will not do its part, then we at the Department of War will always be ready to take decisive action. In this hemisphere, in our hemisphere, there is no safe haven for narco terrorists.
Securing the border does not mean we're losing sight of other critical homeland defense missions. On the contrary, we're doubling down. One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump was for the creation of Golden Dome for America, a revolutionary approach to defend our nation from advanced aerial threats. And we're accelerating efforts on that right now. And Golden Dome will produce tangible protection for this country inside the time frame of this administration and beyond. President Reagan promised SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative. President Trump's doing the same thing. Now the tech is caught up, and we can actually build a Golden Dome for America. A game changer.
At the same time, we're also rapidly strengthening our nation's ability to deter and defend against cyber attacks on Department of War and dual-use targets, including through the most comprehensive overhaul of US Cyber Command since it was started 15 years ago. Nor have we lost sight of the threat of global jihadism. As with narco terrorists, working alongside our partners in the IC and other agencies as well as partners abroad, we will continue to hunt and kill Islamist terrorists with the intent and ability to strike our homeland.
All of this, of course, rests upon the power of our nation's nuclear deterrent, which is the foundation of our nation's defense. Nothing else matters if we don't get this right. And so we will, as President Trump has said, we will modernize our nation's nuclear triad. We will develop additional options to support deterrence and escalation management. And we will never allow this nation to be left vulnerable to nuclear blackmail, even in a world where we face two other major nuclear-armed powers. And we will test nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems on an equal basis as others.
Finally, the department's activities throughout the Western Hemisphere aren't just about killing narco terrorists. They're also about deterring and defending our nation's interests against other threats in the hemisphere. To that end, the department will always provide the president with credible options when needed. That includes guaranteeing US military and commercial access to key terrain like the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, the Gulf of America, the Arctic, and Greenland. In all instances, we stand ready to work in good faith with our neighbors, but they must do their part to defend shared interests. Where they do not, the War Department stands ready to take focused and decisive action that advances US interests. This is the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, recently codified so clearly in the National Security Strategy. After years of neglect, the United States will restore US military dominance in the Western Hemisphere. We will use it to protect our homeland and access to key terrain throughout the region. We will also deny adversaries the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities in our hemisphere.
Venezuela strikes back in the skies, and President Nicolás Maduro is calling it a world record. Speaking at a high-profile event in Aragua, Maduro praised Venezuelan Defense Forces for shooting down nine aircraft he says were linked to international drug trafficking networks. The president claimed nine foreign aircraft were eliminated in just 24 hours. He said the interceptions took place along Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil. Maduro described the operation as historic, a major victory, he said, in the defense of national territory. According to Maduro, Bolivarian military aviation acted swiftly and decisively. He credited the Bolivarian National Armed Force for remaining vigilant.
