Tipsheet

Trump Says US Military Took Out 'Big Facility' in Venezuela

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  December 29, 2025 11:15 AM

President Donald Trump said the U.S. military destroyed a Venezuelan facility, which would mark the administration’s first airstrike on Venezuelan soil.

Up to this point, the administration limited its strikes to Venezuelan boats alleged to have been carrying narcotics to the United States. At least 100 people have been killed in the strikes so far.

Now, it appears the White House is escalating its military pressure on the Venezuelan regime, according to NBC News.

The apparent attack follows months of U.S. military pressure, including dozens of strikes on boats in international waters. The White House has claimed that the boats carried drugs, though officials have not provided evidence.

In the short phone interview on Friday, Trump responded to a comment about Venezuela by touting the administration's attacks on alleged drug boats before referring to a strike on a "big plant or big facility" that he said took place two nights earlier.

"We just knocked out — I don't know if you read or you saw — they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from," Trump said in the interview. "Two nights ago we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard."

Trump did not provide further details about the apparent attack on the facility, which if correct would be the first known land strike in the U.S. counternarcotics efforts against Venezuela. NBC News has not independently confirmed the strike. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the president's remarks.

The administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuela in recent months. In October, Trump confirmed that he had authorized the CIA to take unspecified action in Venezuela, an unusual acknowledgement about covert action. The president told White House reporters that he took the action because the country "emptied their prisons into the United States of America," a frequent accusation he has made without providing evidence, and also because of narcotics trafficking.

Other than President Trump’s comments, the government has not issued a statement explaining the details of the airstrike. However, some officials indicated the action targeted a drug production site, The New York Times reported. The administration has signaled that it would escalate to strikes on land amid the conflict between Washington and Caracas.

The president says his primary objective is to halt the illicit drugs and illegal immigration coming from Venezuela. He has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of sending criminals and narcotics to the United States.

Trump has also signaled that he wants to weaken Maduro’s hold on power in Venezuela. He has said on multiple occasions that Maduro’s “days are numbered.” He has also refused to state that war with Venezuela is off the table.