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US deploys fighter jets to Gulf of Venezuela in closest known approach yet, amid rising tension
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The U.S. deployed two fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela Tuesday, marking what appeared to be the closest known approach of military aircraft to Venezuelan airspace to date, according to reports.
The F/A-18 jets were observed on Flightradar24 flying for roughly 30 minutes over the waters north of Venezuela, the Associated Press reported.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the short mission as a «routine training flight» designed to demonstrate the aircraft’s operational reach.
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F-18 jet fighters were deployed off the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, according to reports. (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images))
The official also did not disclose whether the jets were armed but did emphasize that the operation remained entirely within international airspace.
Tuesday’s dual flight follows months of heightened U.S. military activity in the region.
Although the U.S. has previously flown B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bombers along Venezuela’s coastline, those aircraft did not appear to approach as closely as Tuesday’s F/A-18s.
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The U.S. military deployed F/A-18 jets near Venezuelan airspace in what defense officials described as routine training to demonstrate operational reach. (Julian Abram Wainwright/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The increase in activity in the region first began after U.S. strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in both the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific.
The first reported U.S. military strike on a vessel that allegedly departed from Venezuela carrying drugs was in September.
The Trump administration said the operations were essential to curbing illicit drug trafficking, though Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues to deny this.
Tensions surrounding Venezuelan airspace escalated in November after President Trump instructed airlines to treat the region as effectively closed, aligning with FAA warnings to civilian carriers.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a ceremonial sword said to have belonged to independence hero Simon Bolivar during a government-organized civic-military march in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation previously told Fox News Digital that Venezuela’s most significant military threat stems from its own air-naval systems.
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He said that included fighter jets, limited surface vessels, and Russian-made surface-to-air missiles.
«Reasonably speaking, in the first day or two of a campaign plan, we can eliminate the air and maritime threat to U.S. forces,» Montgomery said.
Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former Venezuelan diplomat, also said Venezuela’s own military capabilities look better on paper than in reality.
venezuelan political crisis,donald trump,military,airlines,armed forces
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Trump lawyer in Jack Smith case draws conservative backing after DOJ praise rattles ‘elite’ legal conference
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President Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer received swift backing from conservative legal figures online after facing pushback at a recent American Bar Association (ABA) conference for praising the Trump Department of Justice.
Attorney John Lauro, who defended Trump in special counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election case, said the DOJ was «in a better place» under Trump, causing fellow panelists and audience members to shudder, according to a Bloomberg Law report of the event.
Lauro told Fox News Digital in a brief phone call on Monday that the event «was a highly triggered environment.»
«I called out the ABA and other elite legal organizations for not condemning the prior administration in holding political sham trials and show trials, particularly the one directed at President Trump, where the Biden administration wanted to put him on trial in 90 days, which is shorter than it takes for a traffic ticket to get worked through in D.C.,» Lauro said.
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President Donald Trump’s attorney John Lauro, left, speaks to the media at following his appearance at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The tense panel put a spotlight on the Trump administration’s ongoing fight with the ABA as it spurred DOJ officials and lawyers to voice their disdain for the organization.
«The ABA is trash and I’m proud to never have been a member,» Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon said. «Its stunt trashing Judge [Robert] Bork did it for me.»
«As if we needed anymore proof of the absolute disgrace that is the ABA,» wrote Associate Deputy Attorney General Diego Pestana. «John Lauro, one of the best trial attorneys in the country and patriot, treated terribly for simply daring to voice a view contrary to the liberal white collar bar.»
Lauro said during the panel, held at a conference in San Diego, that he had «the unique experience of representing a political figure who was probably more abused by the criminal justice system in America than any other political figure ever.»
«Everything that has gone on in the current administration must be looked at from the eyes of a man who was victimized by the criminal justice system,» Lauro said.
Among those rallying behind Lauro was also Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, who said the ABA «represents a hyperpartisan faction.»
«That’s fine! But they should play no role in law school accreditation (or judicial selection),» Wessan said.
Former DOJ official Jeff Clark, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 2020 election case, called Lauro «a bold man of principle.»
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Another social media user, an anonymous Georgia-based legal commentator, said that while he disagreed with Lauro’s comments, he was «jealous» that Lauro «had the opportunity to tell a room of the type of haughty, effete defense lawyers who hang around at ABA conferences to go f— themselves. He should have taken it.»
Lauro’s remarks had elicited pushback from participants. Nancy Gertner, a Harvard University law professor and retired federal judge, responded that any issues surrounding Trump’s prosecutions did not «justify the fracture of American democracy.»
Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner said: «I wanted to thank Mr. Lauro for admitting the emperor has no clothes. The rule of law is dead because the people in this room and the Department of Justice pissed off President Trump.»
John Lauro, who served as a defense lawyer for President Donald Trump, exits federal court in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«I can’t believe that you think that that’s normal or good that one person can dictate who the Department of Justice investigates and indicts,» lawyer and panel moderator Sandy Weinberg said.
Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA’s website showcases work that includes support for «LGBTQ+» initiatives, abortion access, stricter gun control measures, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
The ABA has also taken a stance against Trump, condemning what its president described as the administration’s «wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.»
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks alongside President Donald Trump on recent Supreme Court rulings in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The ABA has for decades wielded enormous power, weighing in on nominations of federal judges, engaging in litigation and helping firms across the legal industry with recruitment. One arm of the ABA also handles law school accreditation.
Under Trump, several departments and agencies, including the DOJ and Department of Labor, have told political appointees they cannot affiliate with the ABA in their official capacity.
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The DOJ, meanwhile, moved to terminate more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs, though a judge ruled the move was unconstitutional. Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA last year that the DOJ would not give advanced notice to the organization about judicial nominees, a reversal of a decades-long practice of allowing the organization to rate the nominees before they advance in the Senate.
Fox News Digital reached out to the ABA for comment.
justice department,federal judges,donald trump,politics,law
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Trump le pidió a China postergar la reunión con el presidente Xi Jinping por la guerra con Irán
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Foto de archivo
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, afirmó este lunes que planea retrasar aproximadamente un mes el viaje a China que tenía previsto realizar a finales de marzo para reunirse con su homólogo, Xi Jinping, debido a la guerra con Irán.
“Debido a la guerra, quiero estar aquí. Siento que tengo que estar aquí. Así que hemos solicitado posponerlo un mes más o menos, y espero con interés estar con ellos. Tenemos una muy buena relación”, explicó el presidente a la prensa.
La portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Karoline Leavitt, había avanzado este mismo lunes que existía la posibilidad de que se retrasara el viaje de Trump a Beijing, previsto entre el 31 de marzo y el 3 de abril, porque el mandatario está centrado en la ofensiva en Irán.
Trump sugirió el fin de semana en una entrevista con el Financial Times que podría retrasar la visita al gigante asiático hasta conocer la postura de Beijing sobre si está dispuesto a ayudar a garantizar la seguridad del estrecho de Ormuz, vía clave para el tránsito del petróleo que ha sido bloqueada por Irán en represalia por los ataques estadounidenses.
“El presidente tiene muchas ganas de visitar China”, dijo Leavitt. “Las fechas podrían moverse. Como comandante en jefe, su prioridad número uno en este momento es garantizar el éxito de la Operación Furia Épica”, agregó. Más temprano, en Fox News, la portavoz había matizado que el encuentro no estaba en peligro pero que un retraso era perfectamente posible.
REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
El secretario del Tesoro, Scott Bessent, ofreció su perspectiva desde París, donde se reunió con el viceprimer ministro chino He Lifeng en una ronda de conversaciones comerciales destinada a preparar la agenda de la cumbre. Bessent subrayó en CNBC que cualquier postergación no tendría nada que ver con la disputa sobre el estrecho. “El presidente quiere permanecer en Washington para coordinar el esfuerzo bélico”, explicó. “Viajar al exterior en un momento como este puede no ser lo más conveniente.”
La velocidad del desarrollo del conflicto iraní reconfiguró la agenda diplomática de Washington. Trump dijo el domingo que había contactado a cerca de siete países sobre la posibilidad de sumar fuerzas navales para proteger el tránsito de petroleros. Sobre China fue ambiguo: sugirió haber extendido una invitación a Beijing para unirse a la coalición, pero añadió que “ya veremos” si responde.
La visita sería la primera de un presidente estadounidense a China desde el viaje de Trump en 2017. Se acordó en noviembre tras la tregua comercial entre ambas potencias y estaba concebida para avanzar en comercio, seguridad y relaciones bilaterales. Trump y Xi se habían visto cinco meses antes en Busan, Corea del Sur, donde pactaron una tregua arancelaria de un año después de que los gravámenes mutuos llegaran brevemente a niveles de tres dígitos.
REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Beijing no confirmó las fechas —algo habitual en su protocolo— y su cancillería eludió pronunciarse sobre las exigencias de Washington. El portavoz Lin Jian se limitó a afirmar que “la diplomacia entre jefes de Estado desempeña un papel estratégico insustituible” en las relaciones bilaterales y confirmó que ambas partes mantienen comunicación sobre la visita.
La postura china combina cautela retórica con inacción práctica. Beijing recibe aproximadamente un tercio de su petróleo a través del estrecho —Trump cifró esa dependencia en el 90%, cifra que contradicen los datos de aduanas chinas, según los cuales Rusia es el mayor proveedor individual—. China no respondió al llamado de Washington. Su diario oficial Global Times argumentó que la propuesta busca trasladar los riesgos de “una guerra que Washington inició y no puede terminar”.
El barril de Brent cotizaba este lunes en torno a los 101 dólares, según FactSet, tras tocar un máximo de 126 dólares en los días más álgidos del conflicto. En Estados Unidos, el galón de gasolina alcanzó los 3,72 dólares, casi 80 centavos más que hace un mes, según la Asociación Americana del Automóvil. China afronta sus propias presiones: Beijing redujo su objetivo de crecimiento para 2026 al 4,5%-5%, el más modesto desde 1991.
Las conversaciones entre Bessent y He Lifeng avanzaron este lunes en su segundo día. Según una fuente al tanto de las negociaciones, los representantes chinos mostraron apertura a ampliar sus compras de productos agrícolas estadounidenses —aves de corral, carne de vacuno y cultivos distintos a la soja— y ambas delegaciones abordaron el flujo de minerales de tierras raras y fórmulas para gestionar el comercio bilateral. La cumbre en China sigue siendo el horizonte al que apunta toda esa negociación.
Corporate Events,Diplomacy / Foreign Policy
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