US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth late in the day Thursday announced a new major US military campaign, dubbed "Operation Southern Spear," which he said was ordered by President Trump at a moment of unprecedented build-up of naval assets and troops in the southern Caribbean.

"President Trump ordered action - and the Department of War is delivering," Hegseth began in his message on X. "Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR."

The message was not accompanied by any additional escalation or military action against Venezuela, other than the drone boat strikes of late which have become typical. Some 21 alleged drug boats have been blown out of the water off Latin America in operations stretching back to September.

"Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people," the Pentagon chief described. He added "The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it."

Simultaneously in its own post on social media, SOUTHCOM announced that the US Marines were conducting artillery training onboard the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean in support of the commander-in-chief's "priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland."

The USS Iwo Jima is the type of amphibious assault ship which could theoretically land on Venezuela's coast and deliver troops, though this is unlikely at this stage. Any Trump-ordered assault would likely stay at the level of aerial strikes on land targets.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday rejected criticism of US attacks on narco-vessels from G-7 allies. He emphasized that Europeans will not dictate how Washington chooses to defend US national security.

"I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is, and what they certainly don’t get to determine is how the United States defends its national security," he told a reporter while fielding a question. "The United States is under attack from organized criminal narco-terrorists in our hemisphere, and the President is responding in the defense of our country."

"I do find it interesting that all of these countries want us to send and supply, for example, nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to defend Europe, but when the United States positions aircraft carriers in our hemisphere where we live, somehow that’s a problem," Rubio added.