U.S. Navy destroyer confronted by Venezuelan military aircraft in display of strength, following American missile attack on suspected drug vessel

In the ongoing power struggle between President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, tensions have reached a new high.

Maduro, who has been the president of Venezuela since April 2013, ran for a third term in the 2024 presidential election. The Maduro-aligned election authority declared him the winner, but the opposition party, who ran Edmundo González as their candidate, also claimed victory. However, no countries held presidential elections on March 26, 2024, nor is there information indicating that the opposition declared González as the winning candidate on that date.

The United States does not recognize Maduro as the official president of Venezuela. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has seized a significant amount of cocaine allegedly linked to Maduro and his associates, totaling 30 tons, and 7 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro personally. These seizures have further fueled the political dispute.

The US government's aggressive stance towards Maduro has been evident in recent actions. Two days prior, Trump ordered an air strike on a Venezuelan cartel boat. The Pentagon has also deployed at least seven warships to the southern Caribbean, and on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio endorsed Trump's aggressive posture towards cartels.

The latest incident occurred on Thursday when two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over a US Navy destroyer, the Jason Dunham, in international waters. The planes were sent to "interfere with our counter narco-terror operations", according to the Pentagon. However, the US warship did not engage with the Venezuelan aircraft, as reported by The New York Times.

Maduro has been indicted in the Southern District of New York on a litany of charges related to drug trafficking. He has characterized the US actions as "an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat."

Juan Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly, was declared the true leader of Venezuela by anti-Maduro legislators. Guaidó was invited as a special guest to Trump's State of the Union address in February 2020.

The act was the latest instance of saber rattling between the two leaders. Maduro has been accused of consolidating power in executive agencies while simultaneously wrestling it away from the elected National Assembly. There was so much doubt over the veracity of the 2018 presidential elections, which Maduro won.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro, further intensifying the political standoff. The US and Venezuela continue to be at odds, with the drug trade serving as a significant point of contention.