Donald Trump confirms the first US attack on a land-based facility in Venezuela.Image: keystone
Donald Trump speaks of a strike against “drug cartels” in Venezuela. The country’s ruler, however, sees an attempt by the USA to overthrow him.
Dec 30, 2025, 05:46Dec 30, 2025, 05:46
Christoph Cöln / t-online
According to President Donald Trump, the USA attacked a target on the mainland of Venezuela for the first time on Monday evening (Swiss time). “There was a big explosion in the port area where the boats are being loaded with drugs,” he said on Monday before a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. “First we hit all the boats, and now we have hit the target area,” explained the 79-year-old, referring to the US military’s attacks on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean that have been ongoing for months.
While the US armed forces have so far only operated in the waters off Venezuela, the new attack confirmed by Trump is the first officially known case in which the US fired on a target on land. The US President had already made similar hints on Friday on the radio show of billionaire and Trump supporter John Catsimatidis. “We turned it off two nights ago. So we hit them very hard,” Trump said in the conversation.
Asked about these statements on Monday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump confirmed that there had been a devastating blow in Venezuela in the “area of the docks where they are loading the boats with drugs.” However, the president did not provide any information about exactly which target was hit or which part of the US government carried out the attack. When asked by a reporter whether the CIA was responsible, Trump simply replied:
“I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was.”
There is no statement from Venezuela yet. There are also no independent reports from Venezuela about the incident mentioned by Trump. The CIA, the White House and the Pentagon also declined to comment officially. However, unnamed US administration employees confirmed to the New York Times that there had been a strike against a drug cartel facility in Venezuela.
Trump “We turned them off two nights ago”
“I don’t know if you’ve read it or seen it, they have a large facility or a large facility where the ships come from,” Trump told reporters on Monday before meeting Netanyahu.
“And that facility is no longer there.”
The United States has attacked several boats in the Caribbean in recent months that are said to have been smuggling drugs. In addition, soldiers, warships, an aircraft carrier and a long-range bomber were relocated to the region near Venezuela. The US government justifies the action with the fight against drug cartels. Venezuela’s President Maduro sees this as an attempt to force a change of power in the country.
Trump authorized covert CIA operations
So far, the US approach has focused primarily on military attacks against ships that, according to the US, were used to transport drugs. More than 100 people have been killed in more than 20 such attacks in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. The Trump administration has also established a massive military presence in the Caribbean with more than 15,000 soldiers.
The approach is also controversial in the US Congress. In early December, senior US military officials briefed lawmakers on an incident in September in which 11 people died in a US attack. In a second attack, commanded by Admiral Frank Bradley, survivors of the attack were also killed. Democrats in Congress questioned whether this second attack complied with international law because the shipwrecked people appeared to be completely defenseless and no longer a threat.
In October, Trump had already publicly confirmed that he had also approved covert operations by the CIA in Venezuela. In recent weeks, US forces have also taken control of several oil tankers.
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