Trump Warns Any Venezuelan Plane Threatening US Ships Will Be Shot Down

On Friday, for the second time in just two days, a Venezuelan F-16 jet flew near a US warship in the southern Caribbean. At least eight American navel vessels have been deployed off the Latin American country which possesses the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves.

President Trump the same day warned that if Venezuelan jets fly over US naval ships and “put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down.”

CBS late Friday cited Pentagon officials who said a Venezuelan plane flew over the US destroyer “Jason Dunham” for the second time.

Some observers have begun to question the circumstances behind the prior US strike on a “drug-carrying vessel from Venezuela” operated allegedly by a drug trafficking gang, which killed all eleven people on board. Assuming they weren’t military, it could be classified as an extrajudicial killing in international waters, with no warning issued or attempt at intercept.

The Commander-in-Chief has put US forces deployed there on a war footing, it appears:

When asked by reporters in the Oval Office on Friday what would happen if Venezuelan jets flew over US vessels again, Trump said Venezuela would be in “trouble”.

Trump told his general, standing beside him, that he could do anything he wanted if the situation escalated.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has responded by rejecting the state-linked narcotrafficking allegations, and explained that current problems and differences between the nations do not justify a “military conflict”.

Maduro continued, “Venezuela has always been willing to talk, to engage in dialogue, but we demand respect.”

Watch: Trump issues his new warning:

NOW – Trump instructs General Caine to shoot down Venezuelan jets if they approach U.S. naval ships dangerously. pic.twitter.com/g0gDfVHkB2

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) September 5, 2025

Shooting down a Venezuelan jet would constitute an act of war, but Trump would likely not immediately go beyond that – unless there was further retaliation from Caracas. However, there remains the likely possibility that Trump could be pursuing a regime change policy, in continuation of some statements from his first term. On this, CNN writes:

Asked by a reporter on Friday if he would like to see regime change in Venezuela, Trump said, “We’re not talking about that.”

He went to say, “But we are talking about the fact that [Venezuela] had an election, which was a very strange election, to put it mildly.”

CNN further claims, “President Donald Trump is weighing a multitude of options for carrying out military strikes against drug cartels operating in Venezuela, including potentially hitting targets inside the country as part of a broader strategy aimed at weakening leader Nicolas Maduro, according to multiple sources briefed on the administration’s plans.”

Like the other many conflicts and unchecked adventurism in foreign lands, Congress appears to be missing in action, with the exceptions of Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Thomas Massie.