The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is seen in the North Sea during the NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise in the North Sea on September 24, 2025.
Jonathan Klein | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump dramatically escalated the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by sending the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America. This is a show of force that goes far beyond past counter-drug needs and represents Washington’s most forceful move to date in the Latin American region.
“The increased presence of U.S. forces in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will enhance the United States’ ability to detect, monitor, and disrupt illegal actors and activities that undermine the security and prosperity of the U.S. homeland and our national security in the Western Hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote in a post on X.
He did not say when the carrier would move to the area, but as of a few days ago, the carrier was sailing through Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar.
The deployment is part of President Trump’s military buildup in the Caribbean, which includes eight warships, a nuclear-powered submarine and additional F-35 aircraft. This could raise concerns in the region about the Trump administration’s intentions.
Since early September, the U.S. military has conducted 10 airstrikes against suspected drug smuggling vessels, mainly in the Caribbean, killing about 40 people. The Pentagon did not release much information, but said Venezuelans were among those killed.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly said the United States wants him removed from power.
In August, the U.S. government doubled the reward to $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, accusing him of ties to drug trafficking and organized crime, which he denies.
The concentration of military firepower far exceeds any imaginable requirement for the U.S. military to attack individual drug targets on land or at sea.
Ford, commissioned in 2017, is America’s newest aircraft carrier and the world’s largest aircraft carrier, with more than 5,000 sailors on board.
The aircraft carrier is equipped with a nuclear reactor and can carry more than 75 military aircraft, including fighter jets such as the F-18 Super Hornet and E-2 Hawkeye, which serve as early warning systems.
It has missile weapons such as the Advanced Sea Sparrow missile, a medium-range surface-to-air missile used to counter drones and aircraft.
