Trump's Caribbean surge is costing billions of dollars

When U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early in the new year, the administration of President Donald Trump heralded the operation as concise and deliberate: With overhead air support, about 60 special forces troops descended from helicopters into Caracas, fought off security guards, grabbed their quarry and were airlifted back to a U.S. warship 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the coast.

Over and done in a matter of hours, at minimum cost to the American taxpayer.

But the U.S. military posture in the Caribbean is costing billions. Calculations show the operational price tag of the ships deployed there hit more than $20 million a day at its peak from mid-November until mid-January.