Overview
- Guided‑missile destroyer USS Gravely arrived in Port of Spain for joint training through Thursday, as the Pentagon redeploys the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group toward waters near Venezuela.
- The administration says at least 10 strikes on suspected smuggling vessels since Sept. 2 have killed 43 people, while lawmakers and rights groups question the evidence and legality of the lethal operations.
- President Trump has authorized CIA covert actions in Venezuela and is weighing proposals to hit alleged drug sites on land, with Sen. Lindsey Graham calling land strikes a real possibility and saying Congress will be briefed.
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accuses Washington of fabricating a war and has launched coastal defense exercises, as officials display forces in multiple coastal states.
- The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Colombian President Gustavo Petro and associates over alleged failures to curb trafficking, intensifying regional tensions as Trinidad and Tobago hosts U.S. exercises near Venezuela.