The Pentagon said on Friday that it was deploying the United States’ most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, a serious escalation in the Trump administration’s war against drug cartels that provides the resources to start conducting strikes against targets on the ground.
The move will bring the USS Gerald Ford carrier, with dozens of stealth fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, in addition to other warships that accompany the carrier, to the coast of Venezuela as the carrier nears the end of its deployment in the Mediterranean.
Sending the carrier strike group to the Caribbean is the clearest sign to date that the administration intends to dramatically expand the scope of its lethal military campaign from hitting small boats alleged to be carrying drugs bound for the US to targets on land.
Pentagon deploys top aircraft carrier as Trump militarisation of Caribbean ratchets up
The carrier strike group has dozens of F35 fighter jets, increasing the firepower and ability of the US to hit air-defense systems in Venezuela. That would clear the way for US special operations or drones to destroy land-based targets, current and former officials said.
The expanded naval presence “will bolster US capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the western hemisphere,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement.
US and Canada spar over ad of Reagan denouncing tariffs that led to derailed trade talks
The latest breakdown in relations between the US and Canada appears to stem from a one-minute television advertisement featuring former US president Ronald Reagan declaring “trade barriers hurt every American worker”.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says he is ready to resume trade talks with the US. However, Ontario premier Doug Ford – whose provincial government ran the ad earlier in the week – says it will run again during the first game of the World Series Friday night. Ford added that the campaign would end Monday.
US court rejects Trump officials’ effort to delay rulings on veterans benefits
A panel of US judges rejected an effort by the Trump administration to delay court rulings on claims by veterans who say they have been unfairly denied disability benefits and other compensation. The 9-0 ruling, handed down on Wednesday by the court of appeals for veterans claims, is the latest example of the growing number of federal judges pushing back against Trump administration moves.
East Wing of White House reduced to rubble as part of Trump’s ballroom construction
The East Wing of the White House has now been completely destroyed to pave the way for Donald Trump’s $300m (£225m) planned gilded ballroom, just days after the administration announced it would happen and contradicting Trump’s earlier promise that the building would not be touched.
Satellite images on Friday showed the historic building’s eastern section reduced to rubble, to the outrage of historians, former White House officials and much of the public.
Ukraine wants US to stay involved, says Zelenskyy after meeting western allies
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine wants the US to stay involved in efforts to end the war after a meeting of western allies in London that took place without Donald Trump.
The Ukrainian leader chose not to overtly lobby for the supply of US Tomahawk cruise missiles at a meeting of more than 20 mainly European leaders from the “coalition of the willing” but instead emphasised the need for the west to work together.
Virginia Democrats aim to redraw maps to help party gain seats in Congress
Virginia has entered the national mid-cycle redistricting battle, with Democratic state lawmakers intent on redrawing the state’s congressional maps to deliver two or three additional Democrats to Washington.
Trump officials to send election observers to California and New Jersey
The Department of Justice plans to send federal election observers to California and New Jersey next month, targeting two Democratic states holding off-year elections after requests from state Republican parties. Election monitoring is routine but this move comes as both states are set to hold closely watched elections with national consequences on 4 November. Democrats fear the new administration will attempt to gain an upper hand in next year’s midterms with unfounded allegations of fraud.
What else happened today:
Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s top advisers during his first administration, said that the president will seek and likely win a third term in office, despite the fact that this would violate the 22nd amendment of the US constitution.
The New York state attorney general, Letitia James, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of bank fraud and false statements brought after Donald Trump publicly called for her to be prosecuted in a move widely seen as political retribution.
The US will expand the use of facial recognition technology to track non-citizens entering and leaving the country to combat visa overstays and passport fraud, according to a government document published on Friday.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Thursday 23 October.
