President Donald Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the USS George Washington, announcing missile deliveries to Japan's Self-Defense Forces.

Deploying an aircraft carrier is a major escalation of military power in a region that has already seen an unusually large US military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off Venezuela.View on

President Donald Trump dramatically escalated a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean on Friday by deploying the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group to Latin America, a show of force that far exceeds any past counter-narcotics need and represents Washington’s most muscular move yet in the region.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is routing a carrier strike group to US Southern Command to bolster efforts in a new Caribbean drug war.

The Pentagon said the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group will enhance U.S. military capabilities in the Caribbean.

The U.S. military has built up an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea. The Navy has eight warships in the region.

Experts call it "21st-century gunboat diplomacy" as U.S. positions strike-capable forces in Caribbean amid tensions with Maduro regime and cartels.

A report claims that the U.S. military has been positioning a massive number of naval ships, air assets, and troops in the Caribbean region.

The deployment and the quickening pace of U.S. strikes, including one Friday, raised new speculation about how far the Trump administration may go in operations it says are targeted at drug trafficking.

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said the Trump administration’s sending aircraft carrier battle group to waters around Central and South America is “questionable.”

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, billed by the US Navy as “the most capable, adaptable, and lethal combat platform in the world,” is being sent to the Caribbean as the Trump administration ramps up military pressure on Venezuela over alleged drug trafficking.