๐ Share this article US Forces Targeted a 'Big Facility' in Venezuela, President Trump Asserted Without Offering Specifics. Ex-President Donald Trump has claimed that American forces targeted a "large facility" in Venezuela last week. However, the ex-leader offered no details on the exact nature or location of the target, and officials have issued no additional comment from his team. Vague Comments Made During a Radio Show "We just destroyed โ I'm not sure if you read โ they have a large facility, where the vessels depart from. Recently, we destroyed it. So we targeted them with significant force," Trump reportedly informed GOP supporter and supermarket owner John Catsimatidis in a recent interview. Possible Significance of a Verified Attack If a US strike is verified, it would represent the initial attack on Venezuelan soil since the US Department of Defense initiated a increase of US military presence in the Caribbean region to halt narco-trafficking operations that the Trump administration alleges operate under the orders of Venezuelan President Nicolรกs Maduro. The initial objective of the force deployment has since morphed into a blockade aimed at hindering the country's crude oil shipments. Social Media Video and Official Claims Trump has for weeks warned that American military units are poised to expand the military campaign by hitting targets within Venezuela, a tactic that would in theory require legislative approval. Video footage posted online on 24 December appeared to show an detonation allegedly from an industrial area in Zulia state. Yet, the video or the site in question has not been confirmed by third parties. An source allegedly informed a news network that the former president was describing a narco-trafficking site in his comments. Reaction and Current Military Posture The Caracas administration has issued no statement on the event Trump described. Additionally, there have been no corroborating news from within the country about it. The deployment of American forces in the region โ a position some have called a sea blockade โ marks the broadest naval operation of the Trump era. Officials have refrained from describing the operation as a blockade, but have acknowledged that approximately 15,000 troops are deployed across the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, including a aircraft carrier group, advanced fighter jets, and law enforcement vessels to enforce existing economic sanctions.