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2 US fighter jets fly over Gulf of Venezuela amid Trump pressure campaign

The U.S. flew two F/A-18 jets over the Gulf of Venezuela for about 30-40 minutes as part of routine training and counternarcotics efforts amid a broader military buildup.

  • On Tuesday, two U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets flew over the Gulf of Venezuela for more than 30 minutes in a routine training flight, U.S. defense officials said.
  • Pressure from the Trump administration's counternarcotics campaign has built up warships and placed an estimated 15,000 to 16,000 U.S. troops near Venezuelan waters as part of Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR.
  • Public flight-tracking sites showed the jets tracing a bow-tie-shaped pattern near the northern top of Lake Maracaibo between La Guajira, Zulia, and Coro, Falcón at roughly 25,000 feet for about 40 minutes.
  • The incident prompted Venezuela to declare a state of emergency as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the U.S. of preparing aggression, while U.S. Congress pressured the Pentagon for unedited strike video and planned votes to limit military authority.
  • The move marks the closest U.S. aircraft approach to Venezuela since the pressure campaign began, with the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group supporting counterdrug missions as President Donald Trump says land attacks are coming soon.
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WASHINGTON— The U.S. military flew a couple of fighter planes over the Gulf of Venezuela in what appears to be the closest approximation of U.S. military aircraft to the airspace of the South American country since the beginning of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign. Public flight tracking websites showed a pair of U.S. Navy F/A-18 fighter aircraft flying over the Gulf, a body of water bounded by Venezuela and only about 241 kilometers…

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The spokesman-Review broke the news in Spokane, United States on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
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