Overview

• President Trump said Venezuelan military aircraft that put U.S. forces in a dangerous position "will be brought down."
• The Pentagon called the overflight of the USS Jason Dunham by two armed Venezuelan F-16s in international waters a "highly provocative" act and warned Caracas against escalation.
• Washington is reinforcing its posture with the deployment of 10 F-35 fighters to Puerto Rico and a flotilla that includes seven U.S. Navy ships in the Caribbean and another in the eastern Pacific for counternarcotics operations.
• Earlier this week, the U.S. said it struck a suspected drug boat in international waters, killing 11 people Trump labeled Tren de Aragua "narcoterrorists," a move Venezuela denounced as an extrajudicial execution.
• After days of hardline rhetoric, President Nicolás Maduro said none of Venezuela’s disputes with the United States justify a military conflict and called for dialogue.