President Donald Trump claimed the United States destroyed a manufacturing facility in Venezuela, which if confirmed would mark the first US ground operation there, according to reports shared in the past 29 minutes from 5:46 p.m. to 6:16 p.m. UTC on December 29. The claim aligns with X user @OrlvndoA's earlier report over the prior hour that Trump confirmed to New York Times officials an undercover CIA operation in Venezuela's Zulia state targeting a drug trafficking plant, authorized on October 15 with plausible deniability. Trump's statement follows his December 27 remarks to John Catsimatidis about a US strike on a major Venezuelan drug facility two nights prior on Christmas Eve, corroborated by a video of an explosion in Zulia's San Francisco industrial zone, as reported by X users @Katelyn_Caralle and @elmartilloven. Recent US Air Force Special Operations aircraft movements, including V-22 Ospreys toward Puerto Rico and CV-22B Osprey at Aguadilla Airport, were noted in prior updates on December 29, according to aviation spotters @SirListenalot and @tom_bike.
