Trump Orders Complete Shutdown Of Venezuelan Airspace Amid Rapid U.S. Military Buildup

President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a full closure of airspace above and around Venezuela, sharply intensifying his standoff with Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, whom the White House accuses of collaborating with narco-terrorist networks to move drugs across the region.

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” the president wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning.

The Federal Aviation Administration had recently cautioned pilots and airlines to avoid Venezuelan skies, warning of “a worsening security situation” and highlighting heightened military activity and potential GPS interference. Two days earlier, Venezuela pulled operating rights from six major airlines that had halted flights following the FAA alert.

Trump’s directive to shutter the airspace “in its entirety” goes well beyond the FAA’s advisory, reflecting Washington’s view that Venezuelan airspace now represents an active and evolving security danger rather than simply an unsafe corridor.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gill denounced the announcement, calling it a “hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act,” and arguing it violates the United Nations Charter.

“Venezuela denounces and condemns the colonialist threat that seeks to affect the sovereignty of its airspace, constituting a new, extravagant, illegal, and unjustified act of aggression against the people of Venezuela,” he said.

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have spent recent months applying mounting pressure to push Maduro from power, supported by a significant deployment of American military forces in the Caribbean and repeated lethal strikes on vessels the administration identifies as drug-smuggling operations.

Those strikes have drawn heavy criticism abroad, while both Democrats and some Republicans warn that Trump is centralizing too much authority within the executive branch and may be breaching international law.

Last month, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights condemned the attacks, labeling them “unacceptable” and echoing concerns from U.S. lawmakers that the strikes violate international norms.

This week, Trump hinted at broader military action targeting drug traffickers operating in the resource-rich nation.

“People aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea,” he said at the White House Thursday. “And we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier. But that’s going to start very soon. We warn them. Stop sending poison to our country.”

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that Trump risked bypassing federal law since Congress has not authorized military force against Venezuela.

“Americans are tired of endless foreign wars that cost the lives of countless American servicemembers and drain precious resources,” he said. “This is not an America First policy. We need Republicans and Democrats in Congress to come together to return the power to declare war back to the people.”