President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that airspace above and around Venezuela is effectively closed. The announcement comes just days after the president stated that land-based strikes on Venezuelan drug-trafficking organizations would begin shortly.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” Trump announced in a Truth Social post early Saturday morning.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Trump’s announcement comes just under a week after the Federal Aviation Administration warned major airlines about flying over Venezuela amid heightening tensions. Airlines were urged to “exercise caution” due to the “potentially hazardous situation” in the region.“
Operators are advised to exercise caution when operating in the Maiquetia flight information region at all altitudes due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela,” the FAA advisory said.
Direct flights from U.S. passenger and cargo carriers have been discontinued since 2019, though some airlines still fly over Venezuela as part of their active routes in South America. American Airlines told Reuters that it stopped flying over the nation in late October, while Delta Air Lines said it stopped “a while ago.”
Major U.S. airliners like Delta and United told Fox News last week that they have long since altered plans to avoid flying over Venezuela, while several international airliners did the same following the FAA’s advisory. Venezuela responded by revoking operating rights for six major international airlines that had suspended flights to the country, Newsmax reported.
The suspensions come as the U.S. has ordered a sizable military buildup in the Caribbean.
The USS Gerald Ford, carrying more than 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft, entered the Southcom area of responsibility after being directed by the War Department to depart from the Mediterranean in late October. Officials have stated that the vessel is in the region in order to provide support for ongoing U.S. military strikes on drug-trafficking vessels linked to the Venezuelan government’s smuggling operations and other groups designated as terrorist organizations in the Caribbean and Pacific coast areas.
“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement
“These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations,” Parnell added.
The Ford, whose escorts in the area include the USS Bainbridge, USS Mahan and USS Winston Churchill, will be on-hand to assist operations in the region after the Pentagon already deployed eight warships, F-35 fighter jets and at least one nuclear-powered submarine in the Caribbean, according to the Pentagon.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES! Massive FAFO is coming for narco-terrorists and Maduro as President Trump hints LAND STRIKES might becoming soon 🔥
“We’ll be starting to stop them by LAND, also! The land is EASIER! That’s gonna start very soon. We warned them: stop sending POISON.” 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/hRj6b4GWgm
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 28, 2025
President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that land-based strikes on Venezuelan drug-trafficking organizations — many of which have been designated as terrorist by the U.S. and have ties to the Venezuelan regime — could begin in the coming days. The War Department has already carried out nearly two-dozen strikes on drug-trafficking vessels operating in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Despite escalating tensions, President Trump has left the door open to diplomacy. Trump reportedly spoke by phone last week with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, during which the possibility of a face-to-face meeting was discussed, The New York Times reported.
