WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said Friday that he has made up his mind regarding potential action on Venezuela but declined to disclose details, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he “can’t tell” what the next steps will be.

Asked whether a decision had been reached, Trump said: “I can’t tell you what it would be, but I sort of did. We’ve made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in.”

He said US efforts to curb narcotics trafficking were showing results, while noting continued challenges with “a Mexico problem” and “a Colombia problem.”

He added: “Drugs coming into our country are greatly slowed, as you can imagine.”

Over the past two months, the US military has carried out deadly strikes on at least 21 vessels it claims were transporting drugs from South America to the US.

The operations, conducted without publicly released evidence that the vessels were involved in smuggling, have resulted in a reported 80 deaths. Venezuela has since mobilized regular military units and civilian militias nationwide in response.

On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new mission, “Operation Southern Spear,” aimed at removing what he described as “narco-terrorists from our hemisphere.”

“President Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering,” Hegseth wrote on platform X.

Media reports on Thursday said Trump was presented with military options for Venezuela, including possible land strikes, during a meeting at the White House.

Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, and senior officials “briefed the president on military options for the coming days,” according to the reports. — Agencies