Trump says Venezuelan jets will be 'shot down' if they put US warships 'in a dangerous position'

( Post Millennial )

Speaking with reporters at the White House on Friday, President Donald Trump said that if Venezuelan jets fly in a manner that endangers American troops operating in the Caribbean, they will be "shot down.

Trump was asked what would happen if Venezuelan jets fly over US vessels again, to which Trump replied, "well, I would say they’re gonna be in trouble. We’ll let them know about that. We heard that happened, but it wasn’t really over, not like they described. But I would say, General [Dan Caine], if they do that, you have a choice of doing anything you want, okay?

If they fly in a dangerous position, I would say that you can—you or your captains—can make the decision as to what they want to do." He was asked about how close Venezuelan jets got to US warships in the region, to which Trump said, "well, I don’t want to talk about that, but if they do put us in a dangerous position, they’ll be shot down."

The Department of Defense said in a statement Thursday, "Today, two Maduro regime military aircraft flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters. This highly provocative move was designed to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations. The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the US military."

The move came after the Trump administration earlier in the week said that it had carried out a strike on a Venezuelan cartel ship in international waters.