Two US Fighter Jets Spotted Over Gulf of Venezuela Amid Heightened Tensions

US Fighter Jets Fly Near Venezuelan Waters Amid Rising Tensions.

Amid President Donald Trump’s escalating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, two US Navy F/A-18 fighter jets were tracked over the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday — reportedly the closest American warplanes have come to the country’s airspace in recent years. Flight-tracking sites showed the jets circling the narrow gulf for over 30 minutes.

A US defense official told the Associated Press that the aircraft were on a routine training flight and remained in international airspace. While the US has previously deployed B-52 and B-1 bombers to the region, Tuesday’s flight brought fighter jets closer to Venezuelan territory than ever before.

The movement comes amid the US building its largest regional military presence in decades and carrying out lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Since early September, at least 87 people have been killed in 22 such strikes, including two survivors hit in a follow-up strike — an incident now under congressional scrutiny. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed lawmakers alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but said he had not yet decided whether to release unedited footage of the attacks.

Trump has defended the military actions as necessary to combat drug cartels and hinted that land operations could follow, though he offered no specifics. In an interview with Politico, he said Venezuelan President Maduro’s “days are numbered” and declined to comment on the possible deployment of US ground troops.

The F/A-18 flights were among the most-tracked aircraft on Flightradar24 on Tuesday, reflecting heightened public attention to the US military’s activities near Venezuelan waters.