Venezuelan fighter jets once again flew over American warships, prompting the United States to deploy F-35s to "show presence".

According to the report by CBS News on September 5th, several US Department of Defense officials confirmed that the Venezuelan military had flown over the US destroyer "Jason Dunham" in the southern Caribbean Sea for the second time in two days. Another source confirmed that the US is sending additional F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico to carry out missions against drug crime groups. US Department of Defense officials described the current situation as a "game of chicken" between the US and Venezuela - whoever shows weakness first will lose. An official revealed that the two Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets that flew over the US destroyer that day were American-made. It is still unclear whether the fighter jets were carrying weapons at the time, and the "Jason Dunham" was not in a combat state at the time. The Pentagon later confirmed the incident in a statement, calling it a "highly provocative act" aimed at "disrupting our operations against drug traffickers and terrorists."