America/Washington: Venezuela has flown military aircraft around the destroyer USS Jason Dunham for the second time in 48 hours in international waters near South America. Several Defense Department officials confirmed this on Friday. They described this action as a "game of chicken" in the language of proverb.
According to CBS News, a Defense Department official said that it was an F-16 fighter plane. It flew over Dunham sometime on Thursday night. It is unknown whether the plane was armed or not. Officials said that the Aegis guided missile destroyer Dunham did not attack.
The Pentagon had described it as a "highly provocative move" on the first incident. The Pentagon had said, "This was done to interfere with our anti-narcotics-terrorism operations." Dunham is one of the US warships that have been sent to the region in recent weeks. The Pentagon says they have been deployed to target criminal organizations and narco-terrorism.
"I would say they're going to be in trouble," President Donald Trump remarked on Friday. Responding to a question from reporters on Friday, President Trump said that if Venezuela again flew jets over US Navy ships, it could be very bad. Trump has also spoken to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kane.
The White House announced on Tuesday that the US military attacked a boat allegedly smuggling drugs from Venezuela. 11 people were killed in the attack. The Trump administration said the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang. On Friday, a source familiar with US plans confirmed that the US was sending 10 F-35 fighter jets to the Caribbean to target drug cartels.
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