Naval Buildup Escalates: Trump Now Sends Cruiser, Sub to Venezuela’s Doorstep
Miami Herald | By Antonio María Delgado
Published August 26, 2025 at 3:10pm ET
The United States is increasing its military presence in the southern Caribbean even more as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to disrupt Latin American drug cartels, according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the deployments.
Two sources briefed on the plan told the Reuters news agency that the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie and the nuclear-powered fast attack submarine USS Newport News will arrive in Caribbean waters by early next week. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations, declined to detail the ships’ exact mission. But they described the buildup as aimed at countering threats to U.S. national security posed by groups that the Trump administration has formally designated as “narco-terrorist organizations.”
Another source familiar with the deployments confirmed on Monday to the Miami Herald that the Pentagon would add more ships to the deployment that began assembling in the region last week. That group includes the amphibious ships San Antonio, Iwo Jima and Fort Lauderdale, which officials said could be stationed off Venezuela’s northern coast. Together, the three ships are carrying about 4,500 personnel, including a Marine expeditionary unit of roughly 2,200 troops trained for rapid crisis response.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/08/26/naval-buildup-escalates-trump-now-sends-cruiser-sub-venezuelas-doorstep.html
