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President Trump has made clear that America will no longer sit idly by while drugs and violent criminals pour into our communities, warning this week that strikes against Venezuelan drug traffickers will move from sea to land unless they stop. During remarks to U.S. forces and in the wake of a high-level exchange with Caracas, the president bluntly told traffickers they have a last chance to walk away before American power is used more aggressively.
The administration has backed up words with action, massing ships, aircraft, and special operations in the Caribbean in what officials call the toughest posture in the region in decades — a show of force meant to choke off the flow of poison headed to our kids. This isn’t saber-rattling from coastal elites; it’s a deliberate strategy that has already seen targeted strikes on maritime trafficking operations and a significant naval presence designed to deter and, if necessary, destroy narco-networks.
At the same time, the president reportedly picked up the phone and spoke directly with Nicolás Maduro, a startling but savvy move that proves strength and diplomacy are not mutually exclusive. Americans who demand results should celebrate a commander-in-chief willing to put pressure on rogue regimes while keeping a door open for any peaceful resolution that protects U.S. sovereignty and security.
CSIS’s Ryan Berg appeared on Fox & Friends Weekend to explain how this pressure campaign is reshaping the situation in Venezuela and why the U.S. posture is forcing the traffickers into retreat. Conservatives should welcome sober analysis from respected experts who recognize that the only language that stops cartels is decisive action backed by military capability and unambiguous political will.
Predictably, the usual chorus of critics and huffing human-rights bureaucrats are raising legal alarms, but the American people know who is responsible for the overdose epidemic and the crime that follows it: decades of weak border policy and permissive judges who enable chaos. While we must always respect law, we must also protect our citizens, and when smuggling networks operate like paramilitary forces, they must be treated as the national-security threat they are.
This president is doing what elected leaders should: defending our borders, disrupting criminal networks, and restoring deterrence to a hemisphere that has grown accustomed to American meekness. If Washington’s critics would rather posture than protect, conservatives will stand with the men and women in uniform who are being given clear orders to finish the job.
Patriotic Americans should support a policy that puts the safety of our kids above the timidity of global elites, and demand that Congress and our allies give the president the tools he needs to keep fentanyl off our streets. Tough, smart, and unapologetic — that is the posture that will save lives, secure our border, and restore American strength in the hemisphere.
