'Many options' on table for Venezuela as US mulls land attacks on drug traffickers

“Many options” are on the table to deal with Venezuelan drug gangs, the White House has said, as the US considers attacking on land.

President Trump is meeting his national security team on Monday and could discuss what would be a major escalation in strikes that have so far only targeted boats.

Karoline Leavitt, the president’s press secretary, did not detail what the meeting would focus on. However, Mr Trump said last week that land strikes would start “very soon”.

“There’s many options at the president’s disposal that are on the table – and I’ll let him speak on those,” Ms Leavitt told reporters.

American forces have carried out at least 21 strikes on boats it claims were carrying narcotics to its shores over the last few months.

The US has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of being involved in the drugs trade – a claim he denies.

Venezuela has said the attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder and that President Trump’s true motivation is to oust Mr Maduro and access its oil.

President Maduro – widely considered a dictator by the West – said on Monday that Venezuelans are ready “to defend [the country] and lead it to the path of peace”.

“We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” he said.

Concerns have been raised over the legality of the US attacks, which the Pentagon has sought to justify by designating the gangs as foreign terror organisations.

Tensions remain high over America’s large deployment in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, which includes its flagship aircraft carrier and thousands of troops.

The US has released videos of boats being blown up but has not provided evidence – such as photos of drugs – to support the smuggling claims.

Controversy also surrounds the first incident, on 2 September, in which 11 people were killed – with a follow-up strike targeting the boat after the first attack left two survivors in the water.

US media reported defence secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order beforehand that everyone on board should be killed.

However, there are concerns about the legality of the second strike if the survivors posed no threat.

Mr Hegseth dismissed the reporting as “fake news” and insisted all actions in the region are compliant with US and international law.

“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization,” he said on X.

President Trump said on Sunday he would not have wanted a second strike and that Mr Hegseth had denied giving such an order.

Ms Leavitt confirmed on Monday that the boat had been hit by a second strike – but denied Mr Hegseth gave the order for the follow-up.

Instead, she said he had authorised US navy vice admiral Frank Bradley to attack and the admiral acted “well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the US was eliminated”.

As the US weighs its next steps, Mr Trump said on Sunday he had spoken to President Maduro by phone and that the conversation went neither “well or badly”.

In recent days, he also stated that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered closed – with the South American nation calling it a “colonial threat” and “illegal, and unjustified aggression”.