By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-17 06:41:34 | Updated at 2025-03-17 11:04:49
4 hours ago
A Navy destroyer ship has been deployed to the southern border in an effort to bolster national security, amid President Trump's plan to 'reclaim the Panama Canal.'
The USS Gravely recently spent nine months in the thick of conflict in the Middle East, fighting off continuous assaults from Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
But now the 509ft guided-missile destroyer is en route to the US southern border as President Trump ramps up security to fight what he describes as an 'invasion' of American territory and rampant drug cartels.
The ship, which carries dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles, will be stationed in waters typically patrolled by the US Coast Guard. It will also operate in international waters.
According to US Northern Command General Gregory Guillot, the Gravely will help 'to protect the United States territorial integrity, sovereignty and security.'
The deployment will contribute to 'a coordinated and robust response to combating maritime related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration,' Defense officials added.
Trump campaigned on a mass deportation policy and set to work cracking down on illegal immigration as soon as he returned to the White House.
He vowed to send an additional 10,000 troops to the border with Mexico to bolster security measures and reinstate his remain in Mexico policy, which requires migrants who are seeking asylum in the US to wait for their court date in the country from which they crossed.
A Navy destroyer ship has been deployed to the southern border in an effort to bolster national security
Trump campaigned on a mass deportation policy and set to work cracking down on illegal immigration as soon as he returned to the White House
USS Gravely left the Naval Weapons Station in Virginia on Saturday.
While few details have been made about Gravely's next mission, authorities made it clear that it was in response to Trump's executive order to secure the borders.
Upon returning to the White House, Trump declared a national emergency at the border with Mexico.
The Gravely will house a squad of US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment - elite operators who specialize in maritime missions like fighting piracy and intercepting drug trafficking rings.
Just 13 months ago, warplanes and missiles were launched from Gravely on Houthi targets in Yemen amid the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea.
That particular mission was a high-stakes attack in response to the deaths of three US troops in Jordan.
The Houthi targets were in 13 different locations and were struck by US F/A-18 fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, by British Typhoon FGR4 fighter aircraft and by the Navy destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Carney firing Tomahawk missiles from the Red Sea, according to US officials and the UK Defense Ministry.
The Defense Department said the strikes targeted sites associated with the Houthis' deeply buried weapons storage facilities, missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars and helicopters.
Trump's latest move comes after he allegedly ordered the US military to draw up plans to seize the Panama Canal in his bid to 'reclaim' the waterway (pictured)
The USS Gravely, USS Carney and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were amongst US warships to have launched missiles at Houthi forces last February
Gravely was in the region for nine months and shot down missiles and drones from Houthi rebels.
Trump's latest move comes after he allegedly ordered the US military to draw up plans to seize the Panama Canal in his bid to 'reclaim' the waterway.
The US Southern Command has developed an array of potential plans to ensure the America has full access to the Panama Canal, two military sources confirmed to Reuters.
Trump has asserted that the US needs to take back the canal because China controls it and could use the waterway to undermine American interests.
In his inaugural speech in January, Trump repeated accusations that Panama has broken the promises it made for the final transfer of the canal in 1999.
Trump's latest move comes after he allegedly ordered the US military to draw up plans to seize the Panama Canal in his bid to 'reclaim' the waterway, and sent troops to the US-Mexico border to deter illegal crossings
The Panama Canal is located at the narrowest part of the isthmus between North and South America and is considered one of the world's most strategically important waterways.
Trump has said repeatedly he wants to 'take back' the waterway, but has not offered specifics about how he would do so, or if military action might be required.
Any move by a foreign power to take the canal by force would almost certainly violate international law.
A US invasion of Panama is unlikely, insiders cautioned, telling NBC News that such a move would only be seriously considered if increased presence of American troops in the area did not achieve Trump's goal to 'take back' the canal.
