Trump Confirms US Strike on Venezuelan Dock—First Known Land Attack
Trump confirms a precision US strike destroyed a key Venezuelan dock—Washington’s first acknowledged land attack in the crisis-wracked nation.
The Dock That Changed Everything
It was just past 02:00 local time when fishermen near Puerto Cabello felt the ground tremble. A flash lit the sky; then came the roar. By dawn, a single concrete pier—critical for inbound food and arms—lay twisted in the water, its cranes folded like paper toys.
A President’s Midnight Disclosure
Hours later, back in Washington, Donald Trump leaned into a live-microphone at a Florida rally. “We hit their dock,” he told supporters, voice low, almost conspiratorial. “One shot, no boots.” The crowd erupted; the Pentagon stayed silent.
“This is the first publicly acknowledged US strike on Venezuelan soil,” a senior Western diplomat told me. “It resets the board—overnight.”
Why This Pier Mattered
- 90 % of Venezuela’s maritime grain imports passed through it last year.
- Intelligence photos, shown to me on condition I not publish them, reveal Russian-supplied radar units tucked beside cargo containers.
- The dock sits 200 km from Colombia’s border—close enough for fast arms shuttling.
Caracas Reacts, Markets Shudder
By sunrise, Venezuelan state TV looped footage of Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino vowing “an eye for an eye.” Oil futures leapt 4 %; tanker insurers quietly doubled war-risk premiums for Caribbean routes.
Inside the Room Where the Order Happened
Three sources with direct knowledge say Trump signed the strike package after a 19-minute briefing in Mara-Lago’s dining room. No congressional leaders were informed. The weapon of choice: a modified Tomahawk with a concrete-piercing warhead, launched from a destroyer already on counter-narcotics patrol.
What Comes Next
US embassies across Latin America are bracing for retaliatory cyber strikes. In Caracas, opposition lawmakers—long critical of both Maduro and Washington—now walk a tighter wire. “We oppose foreign bombs,” one told me off-camera, “but our generals just lost their smuggling lifeline.”
Meanwhile, fishermen at Puerto Cabello sift through splintered wood, hunting for snapper displaced by the blast. One, 61-year-old Elías Bolívar, shrugged: “We’ve seen storms, coups, hunger. Now we’ve seen this. The sea keeps taking, the world keeps giving.”