Two US warplanes fly over Gulf of Venezuela as lawmakers demand answers to boat strikes
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The US military flew two warplanes over the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, appearing to be the closest flight to the South American country’s airspace since the Trump administration’s pressure campaign began.
Public flight-tracking websites showed two U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jets flying over the Gulf — a body of water bounded by Venezuela and measuring only about 150 miles at its widest point — and spending more than 30 minutes over its waters.
A US defense official confirmed that two planes had carried out a “routine training flight” in the region.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, could not say whether the planes were armed but noted that they remained in international airspace during their flight.
The official compared the training flight to previous exercises aimed at showing the range of U.S. planes and said the move was not meant to be provocative.
Ground attacks to come, according to Trump
The military has already sent B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers to the region, but those planes have flown over the coast of Venezuela. There is no indication that these planes ever flew as close to the country’s territory as the F/A-18 fighter jets did on Tuesday.
In recent months, the U.S. military has increased its largest presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly attacks on suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
US President Donald Trump said ground attacks were “coming soon” but gave no details.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has insisted that the real aim of US military operations was to force him from office.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to expand his crackdown on drug trafficking at a cabinet meeting, suggesting he would order ground strikes against Venezuela and attacks on any country transporting illegal drugs to the United States.
Lawmakers demand answers
Meanwhile, the Trump administration faces growing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign, which has killed at least 87 people in 22 known strikes since early September, including a Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors clinging to a wrecked boat after an initial strike.
Lawmakers are demanding to see never-before-seen video of the strikes, but U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told congressional leaders Tuesday he was still hesitant to release it.
Hegseth hosted a classified briefing for congressional leaders alongside U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top national security officials.
Earlier, Adm. Alvin Holsey, who will retire from U.S. Southern Command this week, spoke separately with the Republican and ranking Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker declined to discuss details of the call but said the Pentagon was considering whether releasing the video would reveal classified information.
The Trump administration is facing new pressure from some Republican lawmakers who are demanding that footage of a controversial second strike against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean be made public.
Lawmakers also question what information the military uses to determine whether the boats’ cargo is destined for the United States.
Lawmakers learned that the boat destroyed on Sept. 2 was heading south at the time of the attack and military intelligence showed it was heading toward another ship bound for Suriname.
However, it remains to be seen whether Congress, controlled by the Republicans, will oppose the Trump administration’s campaign.
“I want a comprehensive set of data to draw my conclusions from,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who previously demanded accountability after it was revealed that two survivors had been killed.
Trump justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and claimed the United States was engaged in “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
Flightradar24, one of the websites that allows the public to see planes flying in real time, said the planes were the most followed flights on its site at the time.
Venezuela has claimed the body of water is part of the country’s territory, but those claims have been disputed by U.S. lawyers and the military for decades.
The September 2 strike is “illegal” (Republican senator)
A group of senators — three Democrats and one Republican — are also preparing to force passage of legislation as early as next week that would end Trump’s ability to use military force against Venezuela without congressional approval.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who is sponsoring the bill, said that after reading the classified Justice Department legal opinion underlying the boat strikes, he had “deep skepticism about the legality of any of these operations.”
Senators previously tried to pass a similar resolution, but almost all Republicans voted against it. However, senators say there is renewed interest from Republican lawmakers amid the Trump administration’s growing threats against Venezuela, as well as scrutiny of the strike that killed survivors.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who is also sponsoring the bill, requested a public hearing with Holsey. He argued that laws governing when it is legal to shoot at shipwrecked troops also protect U.S. soldiers who find themselves in the same situation.
“These back-to-back strikes against people injured in the ocean really go against our code of military justice,” he said. “They’re illegal.”
