Trump Reveals American Forces Took Out ‘Big Facility’ in Venezuelan Pressure Campaign

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

President Donald Trump has revealed U.S. forces knocked out a “big facility” as part of his administration’s ongoing campaign against Venezuela, possibly indicating the first land strike on the country since beginning military operations in September.

The president discussed the U.S. military’s bombing of suspected drug boats in an interview with John Catsimatidis on The Cats & Cosby Show on Friday. During the conversation, Trump seemed to indicate a direct American attack on a drug facility.

“They have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from,” said the president. “Two nights ago, we knocked that out.”

Trump did not name the location of the facility, though American officials told the New York Times that the president was referring to a drug facility in Venezuela that was eliminated. The president’s comment is the only report of such an attack. No other Latin American government, including Venezuela, has disclosed a strike of this sort.

A strike on Venezuelan soil would mark a significant uptick in Trump’s continued pressure campaign on the country and its president, Nicolás Maduro. The ongoing bombing of vessels allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela has killed over 100 people since the strikes began in September. The following month, the New York Times reported that the president “secretly authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert action in Venezuela,” which Trump later confirmed. Trump has shut down airspace over the country, and earlier in December, the U.S. began seizing oil tankers near Venezuelan shores as part of an ongoing blockade.

The president previously said he was “certainly” looking at land strikes on Venezuela.

“What’s the next step in this war on cartels, and are you considering options? Are you considering strikes on land?” an off-camera reporter asked Trump in the Oval Office in October.

“Well, I don’t want to tell you exactly, but we are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump replied.

Military officials told The Times they had no information to share about the “big facility.” The CIA and White House declined comment.

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