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President Donald Trump said Wednesday the United States is now “looking at land” in Venezuela as part of its campaign against drug cartels and confirmed the CIA has authority to conduct strikes inside the South American nation.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump made the remarks one day after U.S. forces struck another boat he said was carrying narcotics. He said the latest action brought the death toll to 27 across roughly six strikes.
“We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea under control. We’ve had a couple of days now where there isn’t a boat to be found,” Trump told reporters.
He was also questioned about a New York Times report earlier on Wednesday that said he had authorized the CIA to carry out lethal operations inside Venezuela. The Times reported the order would allow the agency to conduct such strikes as part of U.S. efforts to pressure President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
“I authorized for two reasons, really. No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America, they came in through the border,” Trump said, according to The Hill. “A lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of drugs come in through the sea. But we’re going to stop them by land also.”
The president added, “We’re not going to let our country be ruined because other people want to drop, as you say, their worst … we’re not going to take them.”
President Trump previously stated on Tuesday that the United States conducted another military strike on a small boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people he described as narcotics traffickers.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” targeted a vessel tied to illicit narcoterrorist networks. He said the operation was ordered “under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief” by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that it operated along a known drug trafficking route in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. He said the strike occurred in international waters and that “six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed.”
“No U.S. Forces were harmed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!” Trump added.