Trump Declares Venezuelan Airspace Closed and the Next Stage of Escalation

President Trump said a few days ago that the United States could "very soon" expand its campaign of killing suspected drug smugglers at sea to attacks on targets in Venezuela. He warned airlines and pilots on Saturday that the airspace over Venezuela was closed - another escalation of what his administration describes as a war against drug cartels. In a post on social media addressed "to all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers," the president wrote that the airspace "above and around Venezuela" was "closed in its entirety." Trump did not go into further detail in his post. The warning followed his statement on Thursday night that the United States could "very soon" expand its attacks on boats suspected of transporting drugs in waters off Venezuela to targets inside the country itself. The U.S. boat strikes have killed more than 80 people since early September.

As president of the United States, Trump has no authority over Venezuelan airspace. His posting is likely to deter airlines from flying to Venezuela or crossing the country, and create chaos for travelers. The already fragile Venezuelan economy is also likely to suffer further disruption. However, the closure is expected to have only limited effects on air traffic between the two countries. According to the aviation data company Cirium, there are currently no scheduled direct flights between the United States and Venezuela. Flights from the United States to other South American countries already avoid Venezuelan airspace.

USS Gerald R. Ford - USS Mahan - USS Bainbridge - USS Winston S. Churchill - USS Lake Erie - USS Gettysburg - USS Stockdale - USS Gravely - USS Iwo Jima - USS Fort Lauderdale - USS San Antonio - USS Wichita as well as, to our knowledge, 2 submarines

The United States has significantly increased its military presence in the Caribbean to put pressure on Venezuela. Government officials say the goal is to curb drug smuggling - while at the same time making it clear that they would prefer to remove Nicolás Maduro from office by force. People familiar with the administration's operational planning report that the first targets could be drug-related facilities, including production or storage sites used by Colombian cartels to move cocaine through Venezuela. American intelligence agencies have provided the military with information on the location of such facilities in Venezuela and Colombia.

Whether Trump is planning attacks imminently is unclear. However, the steps taken so far have significantly increased pressure on Maduro. In our short news we reported today that Trump had spoken with Maduro last week - while the United States was simultaneously threatening military action against Venezuela. The conversation took place late in the week, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. They said a possible meeting in the United States was also discussed. However, there are currently no concrete plans for this. The phone call, which was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, took place a few days before the State Department's official decision to designate Maduro as the leader of an alleged drug cartel and also a foreign terrorist organization - the Cartel de los Soles.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the most modern aircraft carrier of the United States, arrived in the Caribbean on November 16, 2025.

The U.S. military has prepared various target options for Trump, including Venezuelan military units that support Maduro or are believed to profit from the drug trade. Other options involve oil facilities. Such attacks could officially be justified as part of an anti-drug operation, but would in fact be an attempt to weaken Maduro by destroying his sources of revenue. Trump regularly describes Venezuela as a source of drugs and illegal migration to the United States. The actual situation is more complicated. Many Venezuelans who come to the United States are fleeing Maduro's authoritarian government. While the Trump administration blames a Venezuelan prison gang for violence, it ignores assessments that Maduro has no control over this group. Instead, the administration is said to have tried to manipulate intelligence.

In fact, Venezuela plays only a minor role in the U.S. drug trade. Cocaine from Colombia does pass through Venezuela, but most of it goes to Europe. Cocaine destined for the United States is shipped through the Pacific. And American authorities say that fentanyl is produced almost entirely in Mexico - with chemicals from China, not from Venezuela. From the beginning, Democrats criticized the boat strikes as unauthorized, illegal and as state killings without due process. On Saturday, critics said that closing the airspace amounted to a threat of force.

Here is where the next stage of escalation begins - and it is far greater than a social media posting.

The United States has increased its military presence off Venezuela's coast in recent weeks to an extent not seen in decades. New reports confirm the use of B-52 bombers and F/A-18 fighter jets conducting patrols officially described as "presence flights" or even "attack demonstrations." In addition, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, is operating within reach of Venezuelan airspace, accompanied by destroyers and surveillance aircraft. For the Pentagon, this is a "pressure campaign." For everyone else, it is a clear message: The United States is openly showing that it could strike at any time. Such a concentration of American forces has not been seen in the region for decades.

"Threats of the use of force - let alone an actual attack on Venezuela - would violate the UN Charter," said Brian Finucane, a former lawyer at the U.S. State Department. "Such an attack would also not be authorized by Congress." Republican criticism was far more muted. But on Friday evening the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, said he would investigate the boat strikes.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order during the first attack on September 2 to kill everyone on board. After survivors were spotted, a second attack was carried out to kill them as well. The United States and Venezuela are not at war. There is no congressional resolution, no authorization and no basis in international law. When a defense minister in such a situation orders the killing of everyone on a boat - and subsequently of the survivors as well - that is not a military operation but an intentional killing without legal basis. There is a word for that: murder.

Also read our article: "Dead Who Are Not Worth Headlines - How Trump's Caribbean War Hits Innocent Fishermen" - https://kaizen-blog.org/en/tote-die-keine-schlagzeilen-wert-sind-wie-trumps-karibikkrieg-unschuldige-fischer-trifft/ and about the first attack at: https://kaizen-blog.org/kokain-krieg-und-kulisse-was-hinter-trumps-karibikschlag-gegen-venezuelas-drogenboote-wirklich-steckt/

Already in September, investigations clearly showed that there were several strikes in the first operation. It also became evident that the targeted boat had changed its course and apparently turned around after the people on board noticed a military aircraft following them. The Pentagon denies all allegations but said it had been clear in all operations that these were "lethal, kinetic strikes." While Hegseth proudly says he ordered "lethal strikes," it remains unclear what the orders for follow-on strikes were and whether Hegseth or an officer explicitly ordered a strike on survivors in the water. During an operation on October 16, two survivors were rescued and returned to their home countries.

In a joint statement, Wicker and the ranking Democrat on the committee, Jack Reed, said they would also examine the later strikes carried out by the military. "The committee has directed inquiries to the department, and we will be conducting a thorough investigation to clarify the facts related to these events," the statement said.