Pentagon Orders Aircraft Carrier to the Caribbean

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon said it is sending the Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier to the Caribbean in a major escalation of the Trump administration’s military campaign to target drug smugglers and threaten governments in Latin America.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier, which is currently deployed in the Mediterranean, to the Caribbean, bringing dozens more fighter and surveillance aircraft, along with other Navy warships that accompany a carrier, officials said.