Pentagon Drafts Drone Strike Plans in Venezuela

The Pentagon is drafting plans to launch drone strikes inside Venezuela targeting drug labs and cartel leadership, potentially within weeks, though President Trump has not approved the operations. U.S. officials say the escalation follows strikes on at least three boats allegedly carrying Venezuelan drugs and deployments of U.S. ships and F-35s to the region, and that Washington views President Nicolás Maduro as not doing enough to halt trafficking. Reports say U.S. and Venezuelan interlocutors have communicated through Middle Eastern intermediaries, and analysts warn any attack on Venezuelan soil could prompt diplomatic fallout and domestic repercussions. Separately, Wall Street is bracing for the September jobs report, which investors see as the key data point for the Federal Reserve’s policy path; economists forecast roughly 59,000 payrolls and a 4.3% unemployment rate, meaning markets need a “goldilocks” outcome to preserve rate-cut expectations. At the same time, bond-market indicators are not pricing in higher inflation despite concerns that a Trump-era weakening of Fed independence could raise inflationary pressure, with medium- and long-term measures near the Fed’s 2% target.