Carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Heads to Caribbean for Trump Counter-Drug Operations

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford may be the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, but it hasn’t shied away from conflict since its first full deployment in 2023.

That year, the Ford initially departed for a deployment to Europe in May, but ultimately spent the end of its deployment in the Eastern Mediterranean after Hamas’ initial attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Today, the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier finds itself at the forefront of another critical conflict as it heads to the Caribbean amid President Donald Trump’s anti-drug crusade, which is putting even more pressure on Venezuela.

The Trump administration has increased its naval assets in the Caribbean in recent months and sent several U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers to bolster its counternarcotics efforts there starting in August.

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And on Friday, the Pentagon announced it would send the Ford from Europe to the Caribbean as U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) operations intensify there. To date, the United States has carried out more than a dozen strikes against suspected drug-trafficking boats in the region.

The deployment represents a major step for the Trump administration, as it claims to be engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug traffickers, and brings a host of new capabilities and firepower to deter aggression on Latin America’s doorstep.

This Venezuelan ship was destroyed during a US military strike off the coast of Venezuela on September 2, 2025. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)

The Ford is the first carrier in its class and is equipped with more than 20 new technologies and key design updates, which aim to increase flight operations while accommodating a smaller crew. The aircraft carrier command center for the ship is placed closer to the rear of the Ford to create more space on the flight deck, so more aircraft can be ready to take off at any time.

Additionally, the aircraft carrier is equipped with a new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, designed to unload aircraft from the ship rather than using a steam catapult system, like those installed on all other aircraft carriers.

During its Caribbean deployment, the Ford will likely conduct land strike operations and provide close air support to special operations troops, experts say. Although new technologies are unlikely to be a game-changer in the Caribbean conflict, the presence of the aircraft carrier gives the US military additional flexibility to conduct operations there, experts say.

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“I estimate that FORD will conduct strike operations against narcotics trafficking and manufacturing sites on land and provide close air support to special operations troops,” Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute think tank, said in an email to Fox News Digital on Monday.

Clark said the carrier’s new technologies will prove “useful” during deployment, but are not expected to make a “big difference” in the Caribbean. But the carrier’s presence there indicates the United States is monitoring the region more closely, which could suggest it is more willing to work with regional governments to combat human trafficking and illegal immigration.

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The Trump administration has strengthened its naval assets in the Caribbean in recent months. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)

Brent Sadler, a senior fellow in naval warfare and advanced technologies at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, said deploying the aircraft carrier will give Trump additional resources to target cartels. Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly stated for weeks that he is considering land operations against Venezuela, following his strikes at sea.

“Ford’s arrival in the SOUTHCOM area is not unprecedented, but given the ongoing attacks on cartel boats, it is significant. I view this move as intended to deter Venezuela from escalating the crisis and to provide the President with additional options if he wishes to escalate attacks on the cartels,” Sadler said in an email to Fox News Digital on Monday. “That said, I would expect Ford’s air wing to be very active in air surveillance and defense.”

Presidents have the authority to direct the deployment of military assets, and both Republican and Democratic presidents have done so. For example, former President Joe Biden ordered the Ford to head to the Eastern Mediterranean after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in 2023.

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Even so, lawmakers on both sides have expressed concerns about the legality of Trump’s recent strikes. For example, Senators Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, and Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, introduced a war powers resolution this month that would prohibit U.S. armed forces from engaging in “hostilities” against Venezuela.

“The Trump administration has made clear that it may launch military action within Venezuela’s borders and will not stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean,” Schiff said in an Oct. 17 statement.

The Trump administration ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford to U.S. Southern Command, prompting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to accuse Trump of “manufacturing a new forever war.” (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images; Getty Images)

However, Trump dismissed lawmakers’ concerns about the legality of the strikes. Instead, he told reporters on October 14 that the alleged drug ships were a “legitimate target” because they were “loaded with drugs.”

The Trump administration has sought to crack down on the flow of drugs into the United States and in February designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa and others as foreign terrorist organizations.

Following Trump’s announcement of Ford’s deployment to the region, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused Trump of “manufacturing a new forever war.”

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“They promised they would never get involved in a war again, and they are manufacturing a war,” Maduro said on a national broadcast on Friday.

The Trump administration refuses to recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state and instead claims he is the leader of a drug cartel.