US deploys fighter jets to Venezuela amid rising tensions

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00:00As tensions between the United States and Venezuela continue to climb,

00:06American fighter jets just made their closest known approach to Venezuelan airspace in years.

00:12The Pentagon flew two F.A. 18 fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday.

00:18The nearest U.S. military aircraft have come to the country's airspace since the Trump administration

00:24launched its expanded anti-drug mission in the region.

00:28A U.S. defense official told Fox News the flight was a routine training mission

00:32meant to show how far the aircraft can operate, but it comes amid a broader buildup.

00:37American forces were also seen unloading trucks and heavy equipment from military ships in Puerto Rico,

00:44a visible expansion of the U.S. footprint in the Caribbean.

00:47President Trump has said land operations are coming, though he's offered no timeline on specifics.

00:52Since September, the U.S. has carried out multiple strikes on what it says are drug-smuggling boats

00:58off Venezuela's coast. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims the U.S. is using those

01:04missions as cover to try to force him from power. And now one of those early strikes is facing

01:10scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are demanding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth release the full,

01:15unedited video of a follow-up strike that killed two survivors of the initial attack.

01:21Hegseth said Tuesday he's still deciding whether to make that footage public.