The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Pentagon's largest aircraft carrier, has reached South America as the Trump administration looks to ramp up military action against cartels and drug trafficking. NewsNation's Hannah Brandt has the latest. | NewsNation

USS Gerald R. Ford Moves Into Strike Position Off Venezuela After a quiet port stop in St. Thomas, the USS Gerald R. Ford has moved into place just off Venezuela’s coast. It’s not alone. Navy destroyers. A Marine amphibious assault ship. A submarine armed with Tomahawks. Thousands of U.S. Marines already landed in Puerto Rico - now rehearsing combat landings in jungle terrain. Military flights tied to B-52s are in the air. And then came the GPS blackout. National security analyst Brandon Weicher

The U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group has repositioned in the Caribbean Sea nearer Venezuela’s coast, part of a reinforced Southern Command presence that now includes destroyers, aircraft and thousands of personnel in the region. This movement enhances NATO-aligned deterrence signaling but raises strategic risk by shortening timelines for projection of force and increasing chances of miscalculation in an already tense U.S.–Venezuela standoff amid broader regional pressures and