The deployment of three B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the coast of Venezuela comes amid a US bombing campaign against Venezuelan vessels allegedly involved in the drug trade.

On Wednesday three B-52 bombers took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and flew for hours near the coast of Venezuela, according to flight tracking data, in what appears to be a major show of force by Trump.

Barksdale, the largest U.S. B-52 base, is located in House Speaker Mike Johnson's Louisiana 4th Congressional District.

Three aircraft—call signs BUNNY01, BUNNY02, and BUNNY03—were observed on extended flight patterns from Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force Base in a striking show of force aimed at Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

As President Donald Trump weighs military action inside Venezuela, building up forces in the Caribbean and flying B-52 bombers off the country’s coast this week, Nicolás Maduro is responding in kind,

The deployment, part of a broader counter-narcotics operation authorized by President Donald Trump, includes approximately 10% of U.S. naval assets—encompassing eight surface warships, a nuclear-powered submarine,

The United States has reportedly deployed military assets across the Caribbean. Some have viewed it as an attempt to exert political pressure on Venezuela.

Developing: President Trump now seems to want to go to war to implement regime change in Venezuela. U.S. officials told the New York Times that the White House “has secretly authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert action in Venezuela…stepping up a campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian leader.”

A US military attack on a ship allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela left two survivors who have reportedly been captured by US forces and are being held aboard a Navy ship. The attack, which took place on Thursday, is at least the sixth US strike on Venezuelan ships in recent weeks. It was the first time that survivors have been reported.