The USS Gerald R. Ford transits the Strait of Gibraltar, Oct. 1, 2025.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth deployed a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its complement of guided missile destroyers to the South American coast Friday, according to his top spokesperson.

Sean Parnell, who is Hegseth's assistant defense secretary for public affairs, announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford, its on-board warplanes, and the other ships in its strike group are deploying to "dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations ... and counter narco-terrorism" in the region.

In recent months, President Donald Trump's administration has destroyed at least 10 suspected drug boats off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. The deployment of a carrier strike group represents a significant escalation in that campaign and could foreshadow the beginning of airstrikes against targets in Venezuela. U.S. officials have accused Venezuela's leadership and President Nicolas Maduro of running drug cartels and facilitating mass migration towards the U.S. southern border.

Trump also recently authorized CIA operations on land in Venezuela. Air Force bombers have flown near Venezuela twice in recent days as well.

Faced with the prospect of being overthrown or killed, Maduro has alternated between pleading for peace and warning the United States about his country's defense capabilities. According to The War Zone, the Venezuelan military has small numbers of modern anti-ship missiles and long-range anti-aircraft missiles, in addition to a large supply of portable Igla-S anti-air missiles that Maduro said are scattered throughout the country.

The counter-drug campaign, which legal experts argue could violate the law, has faced criticism from regional leaders such as Colombia's President Gustavo Petro. The admiral who leads U.S. Southern Command and oversees the campaign, Adm. Alvin Holsey, abruptly announced his early retirement on Oct. 16.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a war powers resolution recently that seeks to restrain the Trump administration from conducting attacks on Venezuelan land; it is yet to receive a Senate vote. A previous vote seeking to block the boat attacks failed 48 to 51.

The Ford and its accompanying destroyers — the USS Winston Churchill, the USS Bainbridge, and the USS Mahan — have spent the past few weeks in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the U.S. Naval Institute's fleet tracker. They will join at least eight Navy ships, thousands of Marines, special operations forces, and the land-based fighter jets already deployed to the Caribbean.

Carrier strike groups represent the pinnacle of U.S. seapower. The Ford carries four squadrons, each with 10 to 14 F/A-18 fighter jets capable of bombing targets hundreds of miles inland from the ship. The three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers each can carry more than 90 Tomahawk guided cruise missiles, though it's unclear how many are loaded aboard the strike group destroyers or aboard the three Burke-class destroyers already in the Caribbean.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump deploys aircraft carrier strike group to South America amid Venezuela tensions

Reporting by Davis Winkie, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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