Robert Reich

Robert Reich

Office Hours: What’s the REAL reason Trump is going to war in the Caribbean?

Robert Reich
Oct 27, 2025
∙ Paid

Friends,

The U.S. now has a force of more than 10,000 troops, warships, and aircraft in and around the Caribbean. We have so far bombed 10 vessels, eight in the Caribbean and two others last week in the eastern Pacific. The death toll so far is 43 people, from Venezuela and Colombia.

Trump has offered no evidence to support his claim that these vessels were smuggling drugs to the United States. America has never before bombed vessels and executed civilians on them out of mere suspicion.

Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s biggest warship, which can host up to 90 attack planes and attack helicopters — is now on its way to the Caribbean.

What’s the real purpose of all this war-making and death? I’ve heard four views:

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