The New York Times reports:

President Trump warned airlines and pilots on Saturday that the airspace near Venezuela was closed, ratcheting up what his administration has characterized as a war against drug cartels.

In a post on social media to “all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” the president wrote that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

Mr. Trump did not go into further detail in his post, but it came after he warned on Thursday night that the United States could “very soon” expand its attacks on boats thought to be carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela to targets inside the country itself. The U.S. boat strikes have killed more than 80 people since early September.

As president of the United States, Mr. Trump has no authority over Venezuelan airspace. But foreign governments and airlines often follow the United States’ lead. Earlier this month, a handful of foreign carriers had canceled flights to Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety warning about the country. For now, several hundred flights from other countries into Venezuela remain scheduled for December, most of them operated by smaller airlines in the region, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm.

The effect on air travel between the United States and Venezuela will probably be limited. There are no scheduled direct flights between the two countries, according to Cirium. Direct flights from the United States to other South American destinations generally avoid Venezuelan airspace.

The United States has built up a substantial military presence in the Caribbean to put pressure on Venezuela. Administration officials have said their goal is to deter drug smuggling, but they have also made clear that they want to see Mr. Maduro removed from power, possibly by force.

People briefed on the Trump administration’s Venezuelan strike deliberations have said that the initial targets could be drug-related sites, including production or storage facilities used by Colombian cartels that ship cocaine through Venezuela. American spy agencies have given the military intelligence about the locations of such sites in both Venezuela and Colombia.

“President Trump’s reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said in a statement. “Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war — not the president — and Congress has not authorized the use of military force against Venezuela.”

Whether Mr. Trump plans to conduct strikes imminently is not clear, but the actions and threats have the effect of increasing pressure on Mr. Maduro and his government.

On Friday, The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump had spoken by phone last week with Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, even as the United States continued to threaten military action against Venezuela. [Continue reading…]

Creating a military conflict with Venezuela gives this administration a legal "hook" to invoke the Alien Enemies Act. In other words, the foreign war is being manufactured in order to facilitate court deference for its domestic mass deportation policy. It's a Stephen Miller Special.

— Asha Rangappa (@asharangappa.bsky.social) Nov 29, 2025 at 10:38 AM