US pressure on Venezuela escalated earlier this month when the CIA conducted a drone strike on a coastal port site.

In a vague and offhand comment, the president claimed that the U.S. hit a target inside the country on Christmas Eve.

President Trump confirms the first known U.S. strike inside Venezuela, saying it targets drug trafficking as critics warn it risks escalation.Iranian authorities shut down cities and security forces move in to contain growing protests as anger over inflation and sanctions boils over.

The president declined to answer questions about whether other U.S. strikes had occurred inside Venezuela or if further attacks could be expected.

The drone attack, said to be on a dock where drugs were being prepared for loading on boats, represented a further escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against Nicolás Maduro.

President Donald Trump elaborated on the strike against an alleged drug facility inside Venezuela following a radio interview during the weekend.

The online petition, which was closing in on 42,000 s ignatures as of 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday, calls on lawmakers to “rein in these unconstitutional military strikes and stop Trump from sending us to war with Venezuela!

The administration provided no details of what the president said was an attack last week linked to U.S. efforts to disrupt drug trafficking from Latin America.