Attack on Venezuela Could Be Imminent, Trump to Designate the Maduro Drug Cartel a Terrorist Group

Six international airlines have suspended flights to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas after the Federal Aviation Administration warned major airlines about a potentially hazardous situation in the skies over the South American nation. 

President Trump's showdown with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could enter a dramatic new phase as the drug cartel he's accused of being linked to is expected to be officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization today.

A U.S. Navy carrier group and B-52 bombers have been operating off the Venezuelan coast, all aimed at Maduro, who the Trump Administration says is responsible for trafficking drugs into the U.S. 

President Trump says he's not rejecting the possibility of putting U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela, saying, "I don't rule that out or anything. We just have to take care of Venezuela."

Since September, the U.S. has launched at least 20 strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing more than 80 people, many of them from Venezuela.

Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas believes those strikes and further military action against Venezuela are legal under Article Two of the Constitution.

"(The U.S. military) have been sent down on a mission to stop drugs from coming into the United States," McCaul said on ABC. "And if that means, you know, taking out ships through our aircraft and our air force, then so be it."

Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner told ABC that the Biden Administration should have addressed this problem.

"Maduro was a bad guy, frankly, under Biden," Warner said. "When the Venezuelan people voted in overwhelming numbers, Biden should have put more pressure on getting Maduro out then. It was a mistake."

But Kentucky Republican Senator Rand fears Trump's focus on foreign intervention could cost him the part of his base that wants 'America first,' telling CBS, "I think once there's an invasion of Venezuela...I think you'll see a splintering and a fracturing of the movement that has supported the President."

The Venezuelan leadership is reportedly frantic over fears the U.S. intends to remove Maduro from power. 

Meanwhile, a new CBS News poll shows most Americans want to know more from the president about what he plans to do, before they support military action. 

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