February 14, 2026
Trump’s Caribbean Surge Nears $3 Billion Price Tag So Far
This article was originally published in Bloomberg.
When US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early in the new year, the Trump administration heralded the operation as concise and deliberate: with overhead air support, about 60 special forces troops descended from helicopters into Caracas, fought off security guards, grabbed their quarry and were airlifted back to a US warship 100 miles off the coast. Over and done in a matter of hours, at minimum cost to the American taxpayer.
Dozens of US Navy ships, fighter jets, drones and logistics vessels began gathering around Latin America late last summer, part of a buildup dubbed Southern Spear.
But the US military posture in the Caribbean is costing billions. Bloomberg calculations show the operational price tag of the ships deployed there hit more than $20 million a day at its peak from mid-November until mid-January. And although most of the costs are covered by defense funding that has already been allocated, combat operations — from flight hours to weapons fired to extra pay — add up on top of that.
Read the full article in Bloomberg.
More from CNAS
-
U.S., Israel Elections Loom Over Iran War
Video
On Bloomberg This Weekend, Bloomberg Economics Defense Lead Becca Wasser and Bloomberg News Middle East correspondent Dan Williams examine how elections in the U.S. and Israel...
By Becca Wasser
-
Charting the New Nuclear Age
Reports
Executive Summary With the continued growth of China’s nuclear arsenal, the United States will likely face two nuclear peer threats in the coming years. The United States cann...
By Stacie Pettyjohn, Carlton Haelig & Natasha Lander Finch
-
BBC World News | Saudi Arabia: Cruise Missiles and Drones Intercepted
Video
Becca Wasser, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security joins BBC World News to discuss Saudi Arabia struggling to defend itself.Watch the full interview...
By Becca Wasser
-
Munitions Procurement and the Fiscal Year 2027 Defense Budget
Reports
Executive Summary The war with Iran has taken a tremendous toll on the American military’s munitions stockpile. Over half its inventory of high-end missile interceptors has be...
By Carlton Haelig
