Hegseth announces Operation Southern Spear in "America's neighborhood"

• The U.S. is massing warships — including the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford — in and around the Caribbean.
• Strikes on alleged drug-running boats have so far killed at least 80 people, and President Trump has made clear he's considering operations on land.
• Senior military officials on Wednesday presented Trump with "updated options" for attacking Venezuela but no verdict was reached, CBS reported.

Zoom in: Southern Spear will be led in part by Southern Command, which oversees military action across Central and South America and in the surrounding waters.

• The head of SOUTHCOM, Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, is expected to retire in mid-December, roughly one year into the job and years ahead of schedule.
• Holsey was reportedly moving more cautiously than Hegseth wanted. Democrats have raised questions about the legality of the boat strikes.

The bottom line: "The Western Hemisphere is America's neighborhood — and we will protect it," Hegseth wrote on X.

Go deeper: America's military might bears down on Venezuela