Trump administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. was not planning military strikes inside Venezuela and lacked a legal justification to do so at the time, according to sources briefed on the classified session led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and a White House legal official.
Officials said the Justice Department’s existing legal opinion only authorized strikes on suspected drug boats — not land targets — and that while a new opinion was being considered, no decision had been made to expand operations.
Military assets that moved into the Caribbean, including the Ford Carrier Strike Group, were there to support counternarcotics and intelligence missions, officials said.
Since September, U.S. forces had carried out 16 strikes on suspected drug vessels, killing at least 67 people. Lawmakers questioned the legality of those attacks and the lack of evidence shared linking the boats to cartels.
