President Trump says American officials are considering drastically escalating military operations in the Caribbean, including potentially carrying out strikes in Venezuela.

The U.S. military has carried out strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing at least 27 people. American officials say the military is targeting “narco-traffickers” in an attempt to stop the flow of fentanyl. American officials have maintained that the strikes have targeted boats leaving Venezuela. 

During an event at the White House on Wednesday, a reporter asked if the president is considering “strikes on land” to target drug cartels. 

“I don’t want to tell you exactly, but we are certainly looking at land now,” Mr. Trump said. “We’ve got the sea very well under control. We’ve had a couple of days where there wasn’t a boat to be found. And I view that as a good thing, not a bad thing.”

The president said that “every boat that we knock out” saves “25,000 American lives.” He suggested Americans should not feel bad about the people killed in the strikes. 

“It is rough, but if you lose three people and save 25,000 — these are people that are killing our population,” Mr. Trump said. 

On Wednesday, new reports surfaced suggesting that the administration may be expanding its operations. A report from the New York Times said that the White House had “secretly” authorized the CIA to carry out covert action in Venezuela. The agency would be able to act on its own or as part of a military operation. However, the Times said it is “not known whether the CIA is planning an operation in Venezuela,” or if the authority is “meant as a contingency.” The Times also noted that American military officials have developed plans to carry out strikes in Venezuela. 

Earlier in the day, X accounts that share open-source intelligence were tracking what they said were two B-52 bombers roughly 100 miles off the coast of Venezuela, in what one account suggested was a “show of force.”

The latest reports come amid widespread speculation, backed up by anonymous officials cited in press reports, that the operations are actually part of an effort to force the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, out of power. The Trump administration has labeled Mr. Maduro an illegitimate leader and a part of drug trafficking operations. In 2020, the Department of Justice offered a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan leader. In July, the DOJ increased the reward to $50 million.

Mr. Trump said America is in an “armed conflict” with South American drug cartels, which the federal government labeled terrorist organizations, and said that the drug smugglers are “unlawful combatants.” The notice appeared to be an effort to provide a legal justification for carrying out the strikes. Under international law, in an armed conflict, countries can kill combatants or detain them without trial.

Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have raised concerns about the strikes and said that Mr. Trump does not have the authority to order them. Last week, the Senate rejected a resolution to block the Trump administration from carrying out further strikes. One of the sponsors of the resolution, Senator Adam Schiff, said the strikes are “illegal” and “risk dragging America into another war.”

However, a Republican member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Tom Cotton, said that the strikes are “lawfully sound” and “extremely limited.”

“President Trump stated very clearly and repeatedly during the campaign that he would attack these cartels if necessary. This is simply him keeping his word to the American people,” Mr. Cotton said. “Because they’ve been going on for less than 60 days. They don’t even fall within the War Powers Resolution threshold.”

The strikes have mostly focused on boats leaving Venezuela, which the Trump administration accuses of fueling the flow of fentanyl into America. Analysts have said that most of the fentanyl production occurs in Mexico and China.

Despite American officials’ insistence that the strikes targeted boats leaving Venezuela, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, warned that they were creating a “war scenario,” as he said the U.S. military targeted a Colombian boat and killed citizens of his country. The White House called Mr. Petro’s claim “reprehensible” and said it should be retracted.

While the Trump administration maintains that the strikes are intended to target drug traffickers, anonymous American officials have told outlets, such as Politico, that the real goal is to oust the Maduro government, something the first Trump administration tried and failed to do. 

And, although the Trump administration publicly insists the strikes are not about regime change, the Venezuelan leader has repeatedly accused American officials of trying to oust him from power. 

Last week, Mr. Maduro said he mobilized Venezuela’s military and police forces to defend its “mountains, coasts, schools, hospitals, factories, and markets.” He also said he is prepared to declare a state of emergency in response to American “aggression.”

The White House did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.