Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter jets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, marking the closest approach of American warplanes to the country’s airspace since the Trump administration intensified pressure on President Nicolás Maduro.
Public flight-tracking data showed the jets operating for more than 30 minutes over international waters in the Gulf, which spans roughly 150 miles at its widest point.
A U.S. defence official confirmed the aircraft were on a “routine training flight”, stressing that they remained outside Venezuelan airspace.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he could not confirm whether the fighter jets were armed but emphasised that the exercise was consistent with previous U.S. regional operations and “not intended to be provocative.”
While the U.S. military has previously flown B-52 and B-1 bomber missions along Venezuela’s coastline, Tuesday’s flight brought combat aircraft closer than at any time in recent years.
The manoeuvre comes as the U.S. maintains its largest military presence in the region in decades and continues a series of lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
At least 87 people have been killed across 22 known strikes since September including two survivors who died in a follow-up strike while clinging to debris.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that land-based operations are possible, without specifying potential targets.
Maduro has accused Washington of using the operations to pursue regime change, while U.S. lawmakers have intensified scrutiny of the deadly maritime strikes.
Congressional committees are demanding unedited footage of the missions, but Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he is still deciding whether to release it.
He issued the update after a classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior security aides.
Separately, Adm. Alvin Holsey of U.S. Southern Command, who is nearing retirement, met with the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee on the same day.
Trump has defended the expanded operations as essential to combating drug cartels, describing the situation as an “armed conflict.”
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported that the two F/A-18 jets were the most monitored aircraft on its platform at the time of the mission.
Venezuela maintains that the Gulf of Venezuela is part of its sovereign territory, though U.S. legal and military authorities have long disputed this claim.