President Donald Trump has ordered the Navy’s newest and most powerful aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Caribbean. The move marks the first operational carrier deployment in the region in over three decades.
The decision follows a surge in U.S. military strikes against suspected drug traffickers, with 15 operations launched since September. Trump’s decision to send the carrier is being viewed as a direct warning to criminal networks — and to Venezuela’s embattled leader Nicolás Maduro.
For the first time since 1994, when the U.S. sent two aircraft carriers to respond to political unrest in Haiti, a carrier strike group will operate under U.S. Southern Command. The last such deployment, called Operation Uphold Democracy, was launched to pressure Haiti’s military regime to step down after a coup.
The Ford’s mission in the Caribbean is expected to support Trump’s escalating campaign against narco-terrorism and to deter threats from hostile regimes in the region.
Trump has hinted that Maduro’s time in power is nearing an end. Speaking on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” he said he doesn’t expect an outright war with Venezuela but believes Maduro’s “days are limited.”
Maduro fired back, accusing Trump of “fabricating a new eternal war.”
“They promised they would never again get involved in a war, and they are fabricating a war,” Maduro said during a national broadcast.
The Ford’s deployment also follows the Trump administration’s decision to increase the bounty on Maduro’s arrest to $50 million. U.S. officials have repeatedly accused him of leading one of the world’s largest drug cartels and using state power to enrich his allies.
“The Trump administration has made it clear they may launch military action inside Venezuela’s borders and won’t stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean,” said Senator Adam Schiff, who joined Senators Tim Kaine and Rand Paul in introducing a resolution attempting to limit Trump’s military authority.
Not all lawmakers agree. Senator Lindsey Graham said the president has “the authority he needs” to confront Maduro’s regime and that “it’s time” for action.
Since its first full-length deployment in 2023, the USS Gerald R. Ford has been involved in multiple major missions, including being sent to the Mediterranean after Hamas attacked Israel. Now, its presence in Latin America signals an even broader show of force.
Bryan Clark, director at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, said the Ford’s air wing will likely be used for “strike operations against narcotics trafficking and manufacturing sites ashore as well as providing close air support to special operations troops.”
Defense analysts say Trump’s move is designed to prevent Venezuela or its allies from retaliating as the U.S. expands its campaign against cartel-linked operations.
Brent Sadler, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said, “The Ford’s arrival in the SOUTHCOM area is not unprecedented but given the ongoing attacks on cartel boats, significant. I see this move as intended to deter Venezuela from escalating the crisis and providing the President extra options should he want to increase the attacks on the cartels.”
While some critics argue the move risks expanding U.S. involvement in the region, supporters say it’s a decisive show of American power against criminal regimes that profit from chaos and drugs.
The USS Gerald R. Ford’s presence — complete with a full strike group of jets, ships, and special forces — sends a clear message from President Trump: America is done tolerating the spread of narco-violence in its own hemisphere.
The last time such a show of force occurred, it ended with a dictatorship falling in days. Trump appears ready to see history repeat itself.