'I don't want to say': Trump confirms first US land strike on Venezuela, acts secretive about exact details

US President Donald Trump on Monday (Dec 29) confirmed that Washington has carried out the first land strikes on Venezuela. The US president said that the US attacked the "dock area" linked to alleged drug boats. Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump said the strike caused a "major explosion" at a site he claimed "they load the boats up with drugs".

Does Trump not know who was responsible for the strike?

While he confirmed the strike, Trump did not disclose where the dock was located, when the strike occurred, or which US agency carried it out. When pressed on whether the CIA was involved, Trump replied cryptically: "I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was".

"We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area... it's the implementation area. That's where they implement, and that is no longer around," he added.

Venezuela's government has not commented, and it remains unclear whether the strike took place on Venezuelan soil.

POTUS casually confirms land strike

This was the second time Trump has publicly referred to a land attack. Previously, he mentioned a strike on a "big facility" during a radio interview last week without offering details. So far, neither the White House nor the Pentagon has released images or video of the alleged dock strike, a departure from earlier US operations in which visual evidence was shared online.

Since September, US forces have repeatedly targeted what Washington alleges are drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. According to US officials, more than 20 vessels have been hit, with at least 100 people killed. On Monday, US Southern Command said two alleged "narco-terrorists" were killed in a "lethal kinetic strike" in the eastern Pacific, though it did not link that operation to the dock explosion described by Trump.