FROM DAILY MAIL: Two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over a US Navy destroyer in the southern Caribbean sea as a show of force on Thursday, the Department of Defense said.
The act was the latest instance of saber rattling between President Donald Trump and President Nicolás Maduro, and comes two days after Trump ordered an air strike on a Venezuelan cartel boat.
The US warship, called the Jason Dunham, did not engage with the Venezuelan aircraft, according to The New York Times.
The Pentagon issued a statement on Thursday night, saying the planes came from the Maduro regime, sent there to “interfere with our counter narco-terror operations.”
“This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter-narco-error operations,” the statement read.
The statement warned, “The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations carried out by the US military.”
Reuters reports:
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Venezuelan military aircraft were F-16s and that they flew over the USS Jason Dunham.
The Dunham is one of at least seven U.S. warships deployed to the Caribbean, carrying more than 4,500 sailors and Marines, in a military buildup that has drawn concern from Caracas.
U.S. Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit have also been carrying out amphibious training and flight operations in southern Puerto Rico.
🚨Alert: Venezuela possesses 15x F-16 fighter jets in active service, operated by the Bolivarian Military Aviation of Venezuela, specifically by Grupo Aéreo de Caza No. 16 at El Libertador Air Base. These are Block 15 F-16A/B models, originally purchased from the United States in… pic.twitter.com/JPv3lH6HcA
— US Homeland Security News (@defense_civil25) September 5, 2025
Two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over a US Navy destroyer in the Caribbean, a US official told Reuters, triggering a stern US warning to Venezuela against interfering in intensifying US military operations in the Caribbean https://t.co/pQdCw2rzVp
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2025
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