Top US Military Leader Visits Puerto Rico Amid Drug-Boat Strikes and Venezuela Tensions
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Donald Trump’s chief military adviser, is visiting American troops in Puerto Rico and aboard a Navy warship Monday, officials confirmed. He will be…

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Donald Trump’s chief military adviser, is visiting American troops in Puerto Rico and aboard a Navy warship Monday, officials confirmed. He will be joined by David L. Isom, his senior enlisted adviser.
According to The Associated Press, Caine’s office said the visit is intended to “engage with service members and thank them for their outstanding support to regional missions.”
This marks Caine’s second trip to the area since the U.S. began significantly increasing its military presence in the region, which now includes the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier.
Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously visited Puerto Rico in September when hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived for what the Pentagon described as a training exercise. At the time, Hegseth said the Marines were “on the front lines of defending the American homeland.”
The current visit comes amid heightened U.S. operations targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats, which have resulted in more than 80 deaths across 21 vessels.
The military buildup and strikes are widely viewed as a strategic pressure tactic aimed at Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with some suggesting the goal is to encourage him to resign.


