Top Trump administration officials informed lawmakers this week that the US is not currently planning to launch strikes inside Venezuela and, crucially, lacks a current legal justification to support attacks against any land targets within the country.
The classified briefing was attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and a White House legal official. They addressed mounting congressional concern over the administration’s military campaign in the Caribbean and the massive buildup of naval assets, including the incoming USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.
Officials made it clear that the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion, which has been used to justify lethal strikes against suspected drug boats on the high seas, does not permit strikes inside Venezuela itself or any other territories. Furthermore, the existing “execute order” for the campaign targeting suspected drug boats, which began in September, does not extend to land targets.
The officials did confirm, however, that the military assets being moved to the Caribbean are intended only to support counternarcotic operations and conduct intelligence gathering, not to prepare for a land strike. They also noted that the current OLC opinion authorizes targeting a list of 24 different cartels and criminal organizations across Latin America.
Despite the current legal limitations, the administration is reportedly seeking a separate legal opinion from the Justice Department. This new opinion would aim to provide a justification for launching strikes against land targets without requiring Congress to authorize military force.
One US official noted the fluid nature of the policy, stating, “What is true one day may very well not be the next,” emphasizing that the President has not yet made a final decision on how to handle the situation with Venezuela.
The briefing also touched on the administration’s controversial use of force at sea. The US military has carried out 16 known strikes against drug boats since September, resulting in the deaths of at least 67 people.
Administration officials acknowledged that the strikes are conducted based on intelligence connecting the vessels to specific cartels or criminal organizations, and they do not necessarily know the individual identities of every person on board before attacking.
While Republican Senator Mark Warner expressed confidence in the intelligence assets used for tracking illegal drugs, he questioned why the administration uses lethal force instead of relying on the Coast Guard’s traditional methods of interdiction, which would secure evidence.
Meanwhile, House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks said he was left unconvinced by the legal rationale, stating, “nothing” he heard convinced him of the strikes’ legality.
