Trump threatens to shoot down Venezuelan jets if US put in danger

Donald Trump has warned that US forces would shoot down Venezuelan military aircraft if they posed a threat, as Washington deployed F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in what the president described as part of his campaign against drug cartels.

The deployment of 10 aircraft adds to the US naval presence already in the southern Caribbean, where the Trump administration has intensified pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, accused by Washington of leading a drug trafficking network.

Tensions escalated after the Pentagon reported that two Venezuelan military planes flew dangerously close to a US Navy vessel in international waters on Thursday, calling the incident “highly provocative.”

Asked what action he would take in the event of similar encounters, Trump responded: “If they do put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down.”

On Tuesday, US forces destroyed what officials described as a drug-smuggling boat belonging to the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua, which Trump directly linked to Maduro. Eleven people were killed in the strike.

The F-35 jets are being stationed at an airfield in Puerto Rico, AFP reported, quoting US officials.

Maduro, whose 2024 re-election Washington has rejected as illegitimate, has condemned the US military buildup, calling it “the greatest threat our continent has seen in the last 100 years.” He vowed Venezuela was prepared for an “armed struggle in defense of the national territory,” mobilizing both the country’s 340,000 active troops and what he claimed were more than eight million reservists.

“If Venezuela were attacked, it would immediately enter a period of armed struggle,” Maduro told foreign correspondents.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller sharply criticized the Venezuelan leader, branding him an “indicted drug trafficker” and claiming the country is controlled by a “drug cartel, a narcotrafficking organization.”