Lindsey Graham Says Trump ‘Has All The Authority He Needs’ To Strike Venezuela

President Donald Trump may order land strikes on Venezuela and other parts of South America in pursuit of drug cartels without congressional authority, according to South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham appeared on CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday and defended Trump’s suggestion last week that land strikes may be the next step after the U.S. military blew up 10 drug boats and submarines in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

“I think that’s a real possibility,” said Graham on the potential for U.S. strikes on land in South America. “I think President Trump has made a decision that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug trafficker, that it’s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long.”

“I support that idea, but I think he has all the authority he needs,” Graham added after noting that Trump is expected to brief Congress on possible military operations in and around South America when he returns from a trip to Asia later this week.

The South Carolina senator cited operations ordered by former presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. The missions, which took place in Panama and Grenada, are precedents that should set the legal foundation for any land strikes against drug cartels ordered unilaterally by Trump.

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“When President Bush 41 took Ortega out in Panama, Reagan went into Grenada to deal with the Cuban influence from Grenada in our backyard – [Trump] has all the authority in the world,” said Graham. “This is not murder. This is protecting America from being poisoned by narco-terrorists coming from Venezuela and Colombia.”

U.S. land strikes on Venezuela are “a real possibility,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says, telling @margbrennan President Trump plans to brief Congress about potentially expanding the U.S. military operations “from the sea to the land.”

“I support that idea. But I think he has… pic.twitter.com/q7iBG7D0H7

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 26, 2025

Graham’s comments come days after the administration announced the U.S.S. Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group would move to the Caribbean. The Ford is the newest and most technologically advanced carrier in the U.S. fleet, signaling the seriousness with which the White House is approaching its fight against drug cartels and terror networks that are flooding the United States with dangerous and illicit drugs.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the Ford’s latest assignment in a post on X.

The aircraft carrier group “will bolster U.S. 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,” said Parnell in a statement.