The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, billed by the US Navy as “the most capable, adaptable, and lethal combat platform in the world,” is being sent to the Caribbean as the Trump administration ramps up military pressure on Venezuela over alleged drug trafficking.

FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross discusses Tropical Storm Melissa as it strengthens in the Caribbean. The intensifying storm set to slam Jamaica and Haiti, bringing heavy rain, high winds and rapid storm surge posing a potentially deadly scenario in the Caribbean.

The USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group are joining the U.S. military’s widening campaign in Latin America.

An intensifying Melissa will bring destructive flooding to Jamaica, southern Haiti and the Dominican Republic before tracking toward Cuba, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas next week.

Storm is forecast to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane and bring life-threatening rainfall, landslides and storm surge to Jamaica, Haiti and elsewhere. The risk to Florida remains.

The Navy has eight warships in the region — three destroyers, three amphibious assault ships, a cruiser and a smaller littoral combat ship that's designed for coastal waters.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier is deployed to the region in an escalating military conflict against drug traffickers

Experts call it "21st-century gunboat diplomacy" as U.S. positions strike-capable forces in Caribbean amid tensions with Maduro regime and cartels.