Donald Trump has decided to tackle one of the most serious and underestimated threats to the security of the United States: Tren de Aragua, a transnational terrorist organization born in Venezuelan prisons and grown to become a criminal army at the service of the regime of Nicolás Maduro. With an unprecedented presidential proclamation, on March 15, 2025, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, ordering the identification, detention and immediate deportation of all members of TdA present on American soil. This decision marks a radical change in national security policy, in stark contrast to the laxity that characterized the Biden administration and that allowed Venezuelan organized crime to infiltrate through illegal migration flows.
This escalation of tensions is confirmed by the revelations contained in the book Danger Close by Patrick Byrne, a bestseller in the United States and now also available in the Italian version edited by Guya Mariani. A text that analyzes the connection between South American narcoterrorism and globalist power networks that aim to destabilize the United States. Byrne, former CEO of Overstock and a key figure in the fight against corruption in the Deep State, has documented how Maduro and the Cartel de los Soles have used criminal organizations like TdA to wage an unconventional war against the United States, exploiting drug trafficking and migratory chaos as strategic weapons.
According to his investigations, the cartels have found support in the American political system, which has turned a blind eye – and often both – to TdA’s infiltration into US cities.
It is no secret that the Maduro regime has ceded large portions of its territory to criminal cartels, turning Venezuela into a base of operations for terrorist activities on a continental scale. During the vice-presidency of Tareck El Aissami (2012-2017), TdA experienced exponential growth, facilitated by the support of corrupt Venezuelan security forces. In 2020, the US Department of Justice formally indicted Maduro and his men for narcoterrorism, accusing them of orchestrating a plan to flood the US market with tons of cocaine, with the stated aim of undermining the American social fabric.
What makes TdA even more dangerous is not just drug trafficking or the brutality with which it controls the territory, but its ability to exploit migratory flows to infiltrate American cities and conduct irregular warfare operations. As documented by INTERPOL Washington, in December 2024 TdA was already one of the most serious threats to US national security, having infiltrated thousands of members across the border with Mexico. The reality is that this is not a simple gang, but a paramilitary organization that operates with urban guerrilla methods, replicating in the United States the model of terror already tested in South America.
Faced with this silent invasion, Trump has decided to act decisively. His proclamation establishes the official designation of TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, authorizes the immediate arrest of all its members aged 14 and over without citizenship or legal residency, and provides for the confiscation of all assets and financial resources linked to the group’s terrorist activities. Furthermore, the measure requires unprecedented collaboration between federal, state and local agencies to identify and deport infiltrated criminals.
But Trump’s battle is not only against TdA. As Byrne explains in his book, the real challenge is against the Deep State, which for years has favored the infiltration of criminal organizations in the United States, allowing the problem to be minimized and ignored by the media. It is no coincidence that the American left and the mainstream are already attacking Trump’s decision, accusing him of “human rights violations” and of adopting excessively drastic measures. The Washington Post and CNN talk about mass deportations and inflammatory rhetoric, while progressive organizations try to paint TdA as a marginal phenomenon. But the facts are clear for all to see: national security has been compromised, and those who oppose Trump’s measures today are in fact protecting a terrorist organization that kills, kidnaps and extorts in American cities.
The executive order signed by Trump is not just a reaction to an organized crime problem, but a declaration of war against those who threaten the United States from within. The message from the White House is clear: no one can use America as a refuge for terrorist operations. The zero tolerance strategy is not only the only possible response, but represents a real paradigm shift in national security.
