US fighter jets carried out a training flight over the Gulf of Venezuela as scrutiny intensifies
The Trump administration’s regional operations are being questioned by senators as two US F/A-18 jets fly close to Venezuela in international airspace.
Tuesday saw the US military fly two fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela, the closest American aircraft have flown to the South American nation’s airspace since the Trump administration’s pressure campaign began.
The U.S. was displayed on public flight tracking websites. above 30 minutes were spent by Navy F/A-18 aircraft flying above the Gulf, a body of water that is roughly 150 miles wide at its widest point. According to a US defense official, the planes were in the vicinity on a “routine training flight.”
The officer, who wished to remain anonymous owing to the delicate nature of military operations, stated that the jets were still in international airspace but was unable to establish if they were armed. He emphasized that the training trip was “not meant to be provocative” and compared it to other drills intended to show the range of US aircraft.
In the past, the Pentagon has sent B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers to the area, but those aircraft sailed along the Venezuelan coast instead of getting as close as the F/A-18 jets did Tuesday.
The flights coincide with a number of fatal attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, as well as the US military’s greatest regional presence in decades. Although he hasn’t revealed the areas, President Donald Trump has promised land assaults.
The goal of the US military activities, according to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, is to overthrow him. At least 87 people have been murdered in 22 recorded boat hits since September, including a follow-up attack that killed two survivors clinging to wreckage, and lawmakers are now paying closer attention to the strikes.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that he is still debating whether to share the unedited strike footage that lawmakers are requesting. Along with other top security officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth gave a confidential briefing.
On the same day, the Republican chairman and senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee had a separate conversation with Adm. Alvin Holsey, who is set to retire from US Southern Command.
Trump has described the situation as a “armed conflict” with cartels and defended the operations as essential to stopping drug trafficking.
At the time, the jets were the most tracked flights on Flightradar24’s website. Although US military and judicial officials have denied this for decades, Venezuela maintains that the Gulf is part of its territory.
