Trump Confirms “Major Explosion” In First Known U.S. Land Operation In Venezuela

Donald Trump has confirmed the first known land operation carried out by the U.S. in Venezuela as pressure continues to mount on Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, while standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump expanded on comments he made during a radio interview last week.

The president had vaguely referenced a U.S. operation against a “big facility” in Venezuela.

When asked to elaborate on those comments, Trump said, “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.

“We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area ... it’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement, and that is no longer around.”

When questioned if the CIA was behind the attack, Trump replied, “I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was.”

There are no further details on where in Venezuela the explosion happened, and neither the White House nor the Venezuelan government has commented.

According to the outlet, the strike hit an isolated coastal dock that U.S. officials said was being used by the gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and transfer them onto boats.

The facility was empty at the time of the strike, and no injuries were reported, sources told CNN.

In October, Trump confirmed that he had authorised the CIA to carry out covert operations in Venezuela and said he was considering land strikes against alleged drug cartels.

It was a move that many viewed as part of a broader White House effort to promote regime change in the South American nation.

It also came after the Trump administration described Venezuela’s Maduro as one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world earlier this year and offered a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Confirmation of the new incident from Trump marks the first known land operation carried out by the U.S. in Venezuela since the administration amped up pressure on alleged drug traffickers in September.

The Pentagon has been conducting kinetic strikes against alleged drug trafficking vessels in the region over the past months, with the most recent killing two people on December 29.

So far, there have been an estimated 30 strikes against boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. At least 100 people have been killed.

The strikes are the subject of intense scrutiny, exacerbated by a report that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a directive to kill all on board ahead of a September 2 strike.

Reporting by The Washington Post alleged that two survivors were clinging to the wreckage in the water, prompting a second strike to kill them.

“The order was to kill everybody,” a source told The Post.

The reporting has sparked a bipartisan investigation and raised serious legal concerns, with the Senate Armed Services Committee probing the allegations.

Hegseth has denied the allegations against him, describing them as “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory,” writing on X that “operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law.”

If a probe finds that the second strike was ordered to kill survivors in the water, it would likely have violated U.S. and international law.

Trump has ordered a major military buildup in the area as tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela continue to skyrocket.

Since August, the U.S. has deployed around 15,000 troops to the Caribbean, as well as the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, missile destroyers, and amphibious assault ships.

This month, the U.S. also seized two Venezuelan oil tankers and is actively pursuing a third amid an ongoing blockade and enforcement campaign.

The operations come as Trump ordered “a total and complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

In a Truth Social post on December 17, Trump said the blockade would be upheld until Venezuela returns “all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.”

On December 23, Trump said the U.S. would keep or sell the crude oil found on seized tankers, as well as the vessels themselves.

Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump said the oil could be sold or added to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and confirmed that the ships would remain in U.S. custody.

“Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it. Maybe we’ll use it in the strategic reserves. We’re keeping the ships also,” Trump said.

Authorities say a third tanker being tracked by the U.S. Coast Guard is part of a Venezuelan fleet used to evade sanctions imposed on Maduro.

The tanker, called Bella 1, kept sailing when the coastguard attempted to board the ship last week, leading to a pursuit.