The fleet of U.S. warships assembled in the Caribbean Sea during the run-up to Saturday’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has begun to thin, officials said Wednesday, though the Trump administration is expected to continue military operations in the region.
The shift includes the relocation of the USS Iwo Jima and the USS San Antonio to waters north of Cuba in the Atlantic Ocean, defense officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the movements. At least one of the vessels could return to its home port in Norfolk in coming weeks, one official said. The vessels remain assigned to U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in much of Latin America, and could be moved into the Caribbean again if required, a second official said.
The moves reduce the number of U.S. troops in the Caribbean by a few thousand, to roughly 12,000, and come as it remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will deploy any ground forces to Venezuela to stabilize security there. He has left the door open to the possibility, while officials say that any such deployment would be temporary and focused on protecting oil infrastructure.
Still, the vessels’ shift to the Atlantic underscores that their principal mission has been completed and indicates that the Trump administration may rein in the number of ships it keeps in the region as it balances multiple national security priorities.
Select Air Force assets — including Special Operations CV-22 aircraft used for combat search and rescue and MC-130s needed for aerial refueling — also have also departed, a third U.S. official said. Both airframes were used to support the Maduro raid, that official said.
Spokespeople for U.S. Southern Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kingsley Wilson, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said in a statement that the Pentagon stands ready to execute Trump’s orders whenever called upon.
The naval buildup began over the summer, with a three-ship task force led by the Iwo Jima among the first to be dispatched. The vessel, carrying Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed with the San Antonio and the USS Fort Lauderdale, which was still in the Caribbean as of Wednesday.
The buildup expanded significantly in October, when Hegseth ordered the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and several associated warships to redeploy from European waters to the Caribbean.
Last month, as he urged Maduro to leave, Trump also announced a blockade of all Venezuelan oil tankers under sanctions, and falsely claimed in a social media post that Venezuela was “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America.” U.S. forces have since interdicted a handful of tankers, including two on Wednesday.
While Pentagon officials have not provided a full accounting of how its ships were used in the Maduro raid, comments from Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed that both the Ford and Iwo Jima played key roles.
Caine, speaking at a news conference alongside Trump and other top national security advisers, said the operation included 150 aircraft launched from 20 different locations, including some at sea. Among the fighter jets involved were F-18s and EA-18s, Caine said. Both are deployed aboard the Ford.
After Maduro was captured by members of the Army’s elite Delta Force, he was brought by helicopter to the Iwo Jima. Later in the day, he was flown to New York, ahead of his arraignment Monday on narco-trafficking charges.
Tara Copp contributed to this report.
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