The aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford (CVN-78) is headed to Venezuela, following weeks of U.S. attacks on suspected drug-runners.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s administration escalated a US military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by announcing the deployment of the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America — a show of force far beyond any past counter-narcotics effort and Washington’s most assertive move in the region yet.

The deployment is part of Trump's military buildup in the Caribbean, which includes eight additional warships, a nuclear submarine and F-35 aircraft.

President Donald Trump dramatically escalated a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America, a show of force that far exceeds any past counter-narcotics need and represents Washington’s most muscular move yet in the region.

The dispatch of the warships marks the biggest escalation in US’s largest naval build-up in the region for years

The move would be a major escalation of the Trump administration’s military campaign to target drug smugglers and threaten governments in Latin America.

The move is likely to raise concern in the region about the Trump administration’s intent. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.