The recent docking of the USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, October 26, 2025, has ignited a firestorm of controversy across the Caribbean and in Washington. According to CBS News, the ship's arrival is part of a broader U.S. counterdrug operation under the Trump administration, which has been ramping up both its rhetoric and military presence in the region. Yet, the operation’s scope and underlying motives have become the subject of intense debate, with neighboring Venezuela calling it a “hostile provocation” and warning of dire consequences for regional peace.
While the U.S. government maintains that its efforts are focused on disrupting drug trafficking routes, the context and fallout suggest a more complex geopolitical chess game. The Trump administration’s decision to move the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford closer to Venezuela’s coast, combined with the deployment of the USS Gravely, has stoked fears of escalating military tensions. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, for his part, has not minced words, warning that the buildup could trigger a “new eternal war” in the Caribbean. On Sunday, the Venezuelan government denounced the U.S. military presence as a “hostile provocation against Venezuela and a serious threat to the peace of the Caribbean,” further accusing the U.S. of preparing to launch a false flag attack.
Meanwhile, officials from Trinidad and Tobago have sought to downplay the situation, emphasizing that the USS Gravely will remain docked until Thursday, October 30, 2025, to conduct joint training exercises with their own military forces. As CBS News reported, these exercises are meant to foster cooperation and improve readiness. However, the timing and scale of the U.S. naval deployment have raised eyebrows, especially in light of parallel developments in the region.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, added fuel to the fire during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He stated, “I think President Trump’s made a decision that [Nicolás] Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug, drug trafficker, that it’s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long, and President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress when he gets back from Asia about future potential military operations against Venezuela and Colombia.” Graham’s remarks signaled that the Trump administration is seriously considering military strikes in the region, a prospect that has alarmed not just Caracas but many international observers.
President Trump has defended recent U.S. military strikes on eight vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, most of which targeted boats from Venezuela, by claiming they were legal because the boats carried drugs destined for the United States. However, this assertion has come under scrutiny. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has voiced strong opposition to the administration’s approach. On October 19, 2025, Paul appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and challenged the wisdom and legality of the strikes: “When you stop people at sea in international waters, or in your own waters, you announce that you’re going to board the ship and you’re looking for contraband, smuggling or drugs. This happens every day off of Miami. We know from Coast Guard statistics that about 25 percent of the time the Coast Guard boards a ship, there are no drugs. So if our policy now is to blow up every ship we suspect or accuse of drug running, that would be a bizarre world in which 25 percent of the people might be innocent.”
Paul’s concerns are not merely theoretical. According to PolitiFact, over 30 people have been killed in these recent strikes, yet the Trump administration has not provided concrete evidence that the targeted vessels actually contained drugs. The administration’s claim that each strike saved “25,000 American lives” has been rated false by fact-checkers, further muddying the waters over the legitimacy and effectiveness of the operation.
Backing up Paul’s argument, the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2024 fiscal year report—which covers October 2023 through September 2024—details that the agency intercepted drugs in about 73 percent of cases when boarding boats, meaning roughly 27 percent of vessel interdictions yielded no drugs. This rate has increased over recent years, from 59 percent in 2021 to 64 percent in 2022, and 69 percent in 2023. The agency’s annual goal is an 80 percent interception rate. “The quality of searches performed by Coast Guard boarding teams is high,” the report stated, but it also noted that metrics depend heavily on the quality and timeliness of intelligence received.
However, experts caution that these statistics may not directly translate to the recent military strikes. Jonathan Caulkins, a drug policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, explained to PolitiFact, “The people with fingers on the trigger may demand a much higher certainty rate before shooting. So, even if the senator’s figure were correct when looking across all the many, very diverse operations over the course of a year, that doesn’t mean it applies to the special case of boats of Venezuela. Perhaps it does, but perhaps not.” The Coast Guard’s own reporting has faced questions about what constitutes a “drug disruption,” as some cases involve known traffickers but no drugs found onboard, or instances where drugs are jettisoned before boarding.
Adding another layer to the debate, drug trafficking experts have pointed out that Venezuela plays only a minor role in the flow of illicit drugs into the United States. According to PolitiFact, most illicit fentanyl entering the U.S. comes from Mexico, not Venezuela, and is brought in primarily through official ports of entry at the southern border, often smuggled by U.S. citizens. These facts challenge the narrative that Venezuela is a primary source of America’s drug crisis, raising questions about the strategic motivations behind the current military posture.
Despite the U.S. administration’s insistence that their actions are aimed solely at drug traffickers, the lack of transparency and concrete evidence has left many skeptical. The deaths of more than 30 people in the strikes, without proof of drug cargo, have heightened concerns about civilian casualties and potential violations of international law. Senator Paul’s office pointed to the Coast Guard’s 2024 report as evidence that not every vessel suspected of drug running is guilty, a point that seems especially relevant as the U.S. considers expanding its operations.
Meanwhile, the region remains on edge. The presence of the USS Gravely and the USS Gerald Ford, coupled with strong rhetoric from both Washington and Caracas, has created a tense standoff with unpredictable consequences. While Trinidad and Tobago’s government emphasizes cooperation and training, Venezuela’s warnings of a “new eternal war” reflect deep-seated fears of escalation.
As the world watches, the unfolding events in the Caribbean serve as a stark reminder of the complexities and risks inherent in international counterdrug operations—especially when military force and political agendas collide. The coming days will likely determine whether this standoff remains a war of words or tips into something far more dangerous.
