February 14, 2026

Trump’s Caribbean Surge Nears $3 Billion Price Tag So Far

By: Becca Wasser

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.

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