The US carrier off Venezuela awaits its orders

So the giant supercarrier, USS Gerald R Ford, has at last arrived off the shore of Venezuela. On the horizon it must be an amazing sight. But as it and the crew get used to the temperatures in the Caribbean, does the commander on board actually know what he is supposed to be doing? Has he even been given his orders yet or has he been told to wait around for President Trump to make up his mind? Not only Venezuela is worried about the presence of this mighty fleet in their part of the world. Even the Royal Navy, which operates drug-busting patrols in the Caribbean, is concerned about the way the US warships have been targeting suspected drugs boats and shooting them out of the water. The death toll of alleged drugs traffickers is rising every week. The Royal Navy does things differently. If it comes across a suspected drugs boat it chases it, hails the crew to stop and tries to board it to seize the drugs and arrest the smugglers. All neat and legal according to international law. There have been many big successful drugs busts over the years, but never does the Royal Navy just aim its guns at the boats and open fire. Now, by all accounts, the Royal Navy has stopped, temporarily, sharing intelligence with the US Navy about suspected drugs boats in the Caribbean, presumably because of the fear that if they do pass intel on, the US will use it to hit another boat with maximum force. This is bad news. Cooperation between the US Navy and Royal Navy in the Caribbean is vital. Intelligence-sharing is a crucial tradition between the two navies. But for the moment it's probably not the biggest problem facing the admiral on board the Gerald R Ford. He suspects - or perhaps knows by now - that his mission is going to be very different from just knocking a few suspect boats to kingdom come.