As tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela continue to grow, American fighter jets made their closest known approach to Venezuelan airspace in years on Tuesday. The Pentagon flew two F/A-18 fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela.
That’s the nearest U.S. military aircraft has come to the country’s airspace since the Trump administration launched its expanded anti-drug mission in the region. A U.S. defense official told Fox News that the flight was a “routine training mission” meant to demonstrate how far the aircraft can operate.
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A broader buildup
American forces were also seen unloading trucks and heavy equipment from military ships in Puerto Rico on Tuesday in a visible expansion of the U.S. footprint in the Caribbean.
Trump has said land operations in Venezuela are in the works, though he’s offered no timeline on specifics.
Scrutiny over strikes
Since September, the U.S. has carried out multiple strikes on what it says are drug smuggling boats off Venezuela’s coast. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims the U.S. is using those missions as cover to try to force him from power.
Now, one of those early strikes is facing scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are demanding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth release the full, unedited video of a follow-up strike that killed two survivors of the initial attack.
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Legal experts have said that move may have constituted a war crime.
Hegseth said Tuesday he’s still deciding whether to make that footage public. It came as he provided a classified briefing to Congress alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer called the briefing “very unsatisfying” and demanded the full video be released to lawmakers.
