STORY: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday (October 23) that a report on the United States sending B-1 bombers near Venezuela to increase military pressure was false.

"No, its false," Trump told reporters when asked about the report. Trump added Washington was "very unhappy with Venezuela."

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Thursday that the U.S. flew Air Force B-1 bombers near Venezuela.

Trump also said that his administration plans to brief the U.S. Congress on operations against drug cartels related to Venezuela but that a declaration of war is not needed.

"Well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're going to kill them," Trump told reporters at the White House.

(Production: Kristin Neubauer, Eva Weininger)

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM U.S. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, PETE HEGSETH/

SHOWS: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 23, 2025)(UNRESTRICTED POOL - Access all)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND CABINET MEMBERS SEATED DURING MEETING

2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

REPORTER ASKING OFF CAMERA: "There's reporting the U.S. just sent B-1 bombers near Venezuela to ramp up some military pressure there. Is that accurate? And can you tell us more about that?"

TRUMP: "No, it's not accurate, no, it's false. But we're not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons, drugs being one of them."

3. TRUMP SPEAKING

4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

REPORTER ASKING OFF CAMERA: "Is there any evidence that China is now smuggling fentanyl through Venezuela to bypass U.S. and Mexican port controls?"

TRUMP: "They are doing that. Yes, but they are paying right now a 20% tariff because of fentanyl. That's billions and billions of dollars that they're paying."

5. MEETING IN PROGRESS

6. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"So now they're coming in by land and even the land is concerned because I told them that's going to be next. You know, the land is going to be next. And we may go to the Senate, we may go to the, you know, Congress and tell them about it. But I can't imagine they'd have any problem with it. I think, in fact, while we're here, I think it's a good idea. You go to Congress, you tell them about it. What are they going to do, say, 'gee, we don't want to stop drugs pouring in'. They're killing 300,000 people a year. I think that's a real number, 300,000 people a year. So between that and my discussion with President Xi, I think we have never made progress like we've made."

7. MEETING IN PROGRESS

8. (SOUNDBITE)(English) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, PETE HEGSETH, SAYING:

"Likewise, generally, you don't see fishing in submarines either, sir. So the U.S. military, as I mentioned, nobody better in the world at mapping networks, identifying who's connected to who inside terrorist organizations. It's just, the media is used to hearing that when it pertains to Afghanistan and Iraq and ISIS and Al Qaeda. But if you reframe how you understand the world in our own hemisphere, that's exactly what these foreign terrorist organizations are. And so we will track them, we will map them, we will network them, and we will hunt them and kill them because they're trying to and they are killing and poisoning the American people. And inside that, we have all the license necessary, all the authorities necessary to take these kinetic strikes and we'll continue to take."

9. MEETING IN PROGRESS

10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

REPORTER ASKING OFF CAMERA: "A moment ago you said that if Secretary Hegseth went to Congress and briefed them on the operation..."

TRUMP: "No, we will go. I don't see any loss in going and no reason not to. You know, they'll always complain. Oh, we should have gone. So we're going to definitely. I'd like to just say let's go. We'll go. We're going to tell them what we're going to do. And I think they're going to probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics."

REPORTER ASKING OFF CAMERA: "And Mr. President, if you are declaring war against these cartels and Congress is likely to approve of that process, why not just ask for a declaration of war?"

TRUMP: "Well, I don't think we're going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay. We're going to kill them. You know, they're going to be like, dead, okay."

11. REPORTERS LOOKING ON

12. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

REPORTER ASKING OFF CAMERA: "On the cartel strategy. Hearing you talk about this war, hearing Secretary Hegseth talk about defeating and destroying and the comparisons to ISIS and al Qaeda. Those efforts took American troops being engaged in foreign countries. Do you think that's ultimately where this is headed with the cartels, having American troops in countries like that?"

TRUMP: "I mean, cartels are very bad. They a lot of bad people coming in. They were interviewed recently and they were asking people what their problem was. And one guy said, 'yes, I'm up for murder.' Didn't know what he was saying. Obviously, you know, I'm sure his lawyer was not thrilled with his statement. But they're rough people coming into those cartels. Those cartels are rough. You look at what happens. The trip up, the trip up is horrible, especially for women. They're being killed. They're being raped at levels that nobody thought even possible."

13. MEETING IN PROGRESS

14. (SOUNDBITE)(English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"We have cartels that, you know, somebody came up with the word cartel. I won't tell you who that person was, but you got a lot of bad people in the cartels and you could look at a country like Mexico. And I really respect the president. I really respect a lot of the people over there, but a lot of the leadership. But they are in fear in their own country because those cartels are running those countries, okay. And that includes Colombia. Colombia is a drug den. It's a drug den. And it has been for a long time. You got a lousy leader over there right now, bad guy, a thug. But they make cocaine at levels that we've never seen before. And they sell it back into this, and they're not going to get away with it much longer. We're not going to, we're not going to put up with it much longer. Colombia is very bad. Mexico is run by the cartels. I have great respect for the president, a woman that I think is a tremendous woman. She's a very brave woman. But Mexico is run by the cartels and we have to defend ourselves from that."

15. MEETING IN PROGRESS