By KATELYN CARALLE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER

Published: 14:56 GMT, 29 December 2025 | Updated: 16:24 GMT, 29 December 2025

Donald Trump appeared to give nonchalant confirmation of the first US land strike in Venezuela during a radio interview last week that received little attention. 

The President said that the Christmas Eve strike was on a facility 'where the ship comes from' – seemingly referencing the origination location of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months.

Speaking on WABC on December 26, Trump made the bombshell suggestion that US forces have already started conducting land operations in Venezuela. 

'I don't know if you read or you saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the – where the ships come from,' the President said during a call-in with radio host and billionaire John Catsimatidis, who was filling in for Sid Rosenberg.

'Two nights ago we knocked that out – so we hit them very hard,' Trump confirmed.

The President has been saying since late November that the US is shifting away from maritime attacks on drug boats and will 'soon' be conducting land strikes in Venezuela. 

It's part of a continued campaign to put pressure on Nicolas Maduro, as boat strikes don't appear to be working to deter the so-called narco regime.

But his under-the-radar comments on the radio call-in indicated that the escalation of land strikes has already started.

President Donald Trump appeared to casually confirm that the US has begun land strikes in Venezuela by detailing a strike carried out on a 'facility' there on Christmas Eve

The exact target of the operation was not clear, and neither was which US forces were involved. 

However, a video did emerge on X showing a large explosion in the Zulia state of Venezuela near the second-largest city in the country, Maracaibo.

The state's San Francisco municipality sits on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela.

Zulia-based journalist Jhorman Cruz posted a video of a massive fire with resulting explosions in the early hours of December 24, but has since downplayed that it could have been a US military strike.

'It is prudent to say that we still do not know what started the fire,' Cruz wrote on X, according to a translation of his original post. 'Residents DID NOT see anything unusual, nor drones, nor cars, nor the presence of foreigners.'

'Be careful with strange hypotheses,' the El Público TV director warned.