Hegseth: Venezuela mission won't stop "with just this strike"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested in a Wednesday interview that the U.S. strike on a drug vessel that officials said hailed from Venezuela would not be the last as U.S. assets amass off the country's shores.The big picture: Tuesday's operation marked a sharp escalation in already boiling tensions between the U.S. government and the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.President Trump on Tuesday said the deadly "kinetic strike" targeted "positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists," reiterating the disputed claim that Maduro controls the multinational crime organization.The U.S. operation, which officials said is targeting drug trafficking, is threaded with hopes of regime change, Axios' Marc Caputo previously reported, as Maduro lives under the U.S. government's $50 million bounty.Driving the news: "We have assets in the air, assets in the water, assets on ships because this is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won't stop ... with just this strike," Hegseth said Wednesday morning on Fox News. "Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco-terrorist will face the same fate," he added.Catch up quick: Trump similarly warned on Truth Social for "anybody even thinking about bringing drugs" into the U.S. to "BEWARE!"After alluding to the strike with few specifics in a Tuesday news conference, Trump later shared that he had ordered the U.S. military strike on "terrorists" who he said were transporting narcotics through international waters. Trump had ordered seven warships and 4,500 personnel, including at least one attack submarine, to the waters off the Venezuela coast.Zoom in: "President Trump is willing to go on offense in ways that others have not been," Hegseth said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."Hegseth said the strike sends a "clear" message to Tren de Aragua, which the administration has designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization."You want to try to traffic drugs? It's a new day. It's a different day," he added.The other side: Maduro on Monday said his country was at "maximum preparedness" and that he would declare a "republic in arms" if the U.S. attacked Venezuela, the Associated Press reported.What we're watching: If Maduro is no longer in power following U.S. pressure, "no one will be crying," one Trump administration official told Axios' Marc Caputo. Meanwhile, another suggested "this could be Noriega part 2," referencing the U.S. military's 1989 operation to capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega."Nicolás Maduro, as he considers whether or not he wants to continue to be a narco-trafficker, has some decisions to make, and that's all I'll say about that," Hegseth said Wednesday.Asked if regime change is a goal, Hegseth replied, "That's a presidential decision." He added, "we're prepared with every asset that the American military has."Go deeper: Trump's team wants Maduro to leave Venezuela

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