Trump Threatens to Shoot Down Venezuelan Military Aircraft Over Cartels

President Trump threatened on September 5, 2025 to order U.S. forces to shoot down Venezuelan military aircraft operating near U.S. counterdrug operations in the Caribbean and Pacific. The threat accompanied a significant increase in U.S. naval and air assets deployed around Venezuela as part of Trump's declared armed conflict against drug trafficking cartels. Venezuela's government condemned the threat as an act of aggression violating international law.