USS Gerald R. Ford deployed to Caribbean in unprecedented drug mission

president Donald Trump The USS Gerald R. Ford has ordered the aircraft carrier to the Caribbean as it ramps up its anti-drug campaign — the first time a carrier has made an operational deployment to the region in more than 30 years.

Trump has built up naval assets in the region as attacks against alleged drug boats have increased since September, but sending an aircraft carrier is an unprecedented move. A warship like the Ford has not participated in military operations in the region since 1994, when two carriers were sent to respond to political unrest in Haiti for Operation Uphold Democracy, according to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) records shared with Fox News Digital.

Ford’s publication comes as Trump indicated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro may not remain in office much longer. The Trump administration has carried out 15 air strikes in the Caribbean, while US lawmakers have raised concerns about their legality and a broader conflict in the region.

During Operation Support Democracy, the aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and USS America headed to the region as part of a multinational intervention, after Lieutenant General Raul Cedras led a military coup in 1991 that ousted the island’s first navally elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The Trump administration ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford to head to the US Southern Command, prompting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to accuse Trump of “fabricating a new eternal war.” (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images; Getty Images)

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In July 1994, the United Nations passed a resolution authorizing the use of military force to restore democracy in Haiti, paving the way for the start of Operation Uphold Democracy in September 1994 as a military buildup aimed at pressuring the Cédras regime to step down, according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian.

At that time, President Bill Clinton The intervention, in which approximately 25,000 American soldiers participated, was justified as necessary to remove the CEDRAS regime after using “all possible diplomatic means.”

Clinton said in a radio speech on September 17, 1994, that the Cedras regime had two options: either to leave peacefully or to be overthrown by force.

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“The remaining question is not whether they will leave, but how they will leave,” Clinton said in a radio address on September 17, 1994. “They can leave peacefully and increase the chances of a peaceful future and a more stable future for Haiti in the near term, not only for all those who stole their democracy, but for themselves as well. They can do it, or they will be removed by force.”

In addition to the military forces, Clinton also announced that former President Jimmy Carter, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell, and then-The Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Sam Nunn, Democrat of Georgia, left for Haiti in a final attempt to secure a peaceful transfer of power.

US forces began arriving in Haiti on September 19, 2024, while diplomatic negotiations between the US delegation and the CEDRASS regime were underway, eventually prompting the CEDRASS regime to surrender and allow Aristide to return to power.

The United States is strengthening its military presence in the Caribbean near Venezuela amid Trump’s efforts to stop drug trafficking

Since Operation Upholding Democracy, the aircraft carriers have sailed through Southern Command waters to conduct numerous exercises and support humanitarian efforts. For example, the USS George Washington completed exercises in the region as part of Operation South Seas Deployment 2024 aimed at facilitating naval partnerships with allies as part of a home port change from Norfolk, Virginia, to Yokosuka, Japan.

The carrier participated in these exercises in 2008 and 2015 during major port changes between the East Coast and Japan. In all, there have been a total of 10 missions in the South Seas since 2007, according to Southern Command.

In addition, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson also assisted with humanitarian relief efforts in 2010 after Haiti was hit by a massive earthquake as part of Operation Unified Response, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.

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A suspicious drug smuggling ship is shown moments before it was destroyed in a US raid on October 21, 2025. (X.com/SecWar)

Meanwhile, Trump is ramping up strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean — totaling 15 strikes since the beginning of September — raising concerns from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about whether or not they are legal. For example, Sens. Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, and Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, and Rand PaulRepublican from Kentucky, introduced A The War Powers Resolution outlawing the US armed forces From engaging in “hostile actions” 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 October 17 statement.

However, Senator Lindsey Graham said on October 26 that the Trump administration has the authority it needs to carry out these strikes, and that Trump has decided “the time is right” for Maduro to go.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that it does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state, and claims that he is instead the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, the Trump administration raised the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million in August, claiming he is “one of the world’s largest drug traffickers.”

After the Trump administration announced that Ford would head to the Southern Command area of ​​operations, Maduro accused Trump of “fabricating a new eternal war.”

“They promised that they would not get involved in war again, and they are making up war,” Maduro said in a national broadcast on October 24.

Meanwhile, Trump said Sunday in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that although he does not expect war with Venezuela, he believes Maduro’s days are limited when asked about issuing orders to send the aircraft carrier to the region.

The deployment of the USS Ford comes as Trump has indicated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro may not remain in office much longer. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

The Ford may be the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, but it has already been quick to respond to several important conflicts since its first full deployment in 2023. For example, the Pentagon sent the Ford to the eastern Mediterranean in October 2023 after Hamas’s initial attack on Israel.

While in the Caribbean, Ford is expected to conduct ground offensive operations and provide close air support to special operations forces, according to experts.

“I estimate that Ford will conduct offensive operations against drug trafficking and manufacturing sites ashore, as well as provide close air support to special operations forces,” Brian Clark, director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, said in an email Monday to Fox News Digital.

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Brent Sadler, a senior fellow in naval warfare and advanced technology at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, said the carrier deployment seeks to put additional pressure on Venezuela so that Caracas does not retaliate in the wake of US military strikes in the region.

“Ford’s access to the Southcom area is not unprecedented, but given the ongoing attacks on cartel boats, I see this move as intended to deter Venezuela from escalating the crisis and provide the president with additional options if he wants to increase attacks on cartels,” Sadler said in an email to Fox News Digital on Monday. “However, I expect Ford’s air wing to be very active in air surveillance and defense.”