President Donald Trump has been briefed on updated options for possible military operations in Venezuela, including a ground attack, ABC News confirmed.
Wednesday’s briefing the arrival continued of the USS Gerald Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, in the US Southern Command area of operations north of the Caribbean Sea. The aircraft carrier is accompanied by about 60 aircraft, including F-18 fighter jets, dramatically increasing military firepower in the region and raising the number of troops in Latin America to 15,000.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, seen in the North Sea during NATO’s Neptune Strike 2025 exercise, Sept. 24, 2025, in the North Sea.
Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Sources cautioned that the briefing itself was not an indication that an attack was imminent.
Trump has been weighing his options for weeks, which experts say could range from no action to airstrikes against seaports, airports and military facilities. Another option, considered less likely, could be to send a team of special operations forces to detain or kill Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his top advisers.
Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The final briefing at the White House was given by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who was in Canada at a summit of G7 foreign ministers, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe were not present.
The White House and Pentagon declined to comment on the briefing, which was first reported by CBS News.
Any attack against Venezuela is considered particularly risky. Trump has called for Maduro to resign, accusing him of encouraging drug trafficking and illegal migration to the United States. But Maduro’s sudden departure could also create a power vacuum that risks further instability.
It is also unclear whether the administration would be legally justified in ousting Maduro. Late last month, senators were briefed on a secret list of targets inside Venezuela developed by the Pentagon. But lawmakers said they were told the administration’s current legal analysis only applied to ongoing vessel attacks and did not justify a direct attack on Venezuela.
