Overview

• Pentagon-confirmed assets include three Aegis destroyers, with the USS Iwo Jima amphibious group (USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, USS Fort Lauderdale) shown departing Norfolk carrying roughly 4,000–4,500 personnel, and the USS Lake Erie reported transiting toward the Caribbean via Panama.
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is prepared to use any element of U.S. power against narcotics flows, while Navy chief Adm. Daryl Caudle noted mission details remain classified and emphasized the deployment provides options to civilian leaders.
• Venezuela launched a second phase of recruitment for the Milicia Bolivariana, showcased large-scale exercises, and shifted 15,000 troops to the Colombia border while boosting coastal surveillance with drones and naval patrols.
• President Nicolás Maduro’s government asked UN Secretary‑General António Guterres to urge a halt to what it calls hostile actions, and officials in Caracas flagged reports of a nuclear-powered submarine to argue the move violates the Treaty of Tlatelolco.
• Regional and political reactions diverged, with the White House citing support from some neighbors and Cuba denouncing a provocative show of force, as U.S. officials and independent analysts continued to judge a ground invasion unlikely.