Palm Beach, Florida - President Donald Trump again hinted at escalating his campaign against Venezuela with attacks "by land," supposedly meant to target drug trafficking groups.

Trump made the remarks while video conferencing with deployed US troops to mark Thanksgiving.

Several of the groups that Trump addressed were actively participating in an operation "Southern Spear," which has seen a large military buildup in the Caribbean under the guise of combatting drug trafficking.

Addressing a Texas-based Air Force bombing unit, Trump, reading from prepared remarks, said: "In recent weeks, you've been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many."

It was not immediately clear what actions Trump was specifically referencing.

The US military has carried out a series of airstrikes against boats it claims were trafficking drugs in international waters, without offering evidence to back up its claims.

Those strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 83 people, according to an AFP tally of publicly released figures, and experts say they are illegal.

Washington has also carried out multiple shows of aerial force in the region in recent weeks, with B-52 and B-1B bombers flying near Venezuela's coast.

Elaborating on US efforts to halt drug trafficking, Trump said: "We've almost stopped – it's about 85 percent stopped by sea."

"You probably noticed that people aren't wanting to be delivering by sea, and we'll be starting to stop them by land," he said. "Also the land is easier, but that's going to start very soon," he added.

The remarks come as Trump's administration continues to pile pressure on Venezuela, despite the Republican saying in recent days that he was open to dialogue with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro.

With an aircraft carrier group and numerous other assets in the Caribbean, Washington on Monday designated an alleged Venezuelan drug cartel a foreign terrorist organization, while top US military officials also traveled to the region this week.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife spent the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday with troops aboard the aircraft carrier.

The Pentagon released a video showing him serving up turkey dinners in the mess and expressing gratitude to the troops for "interdicting cartels" and "defending the American people."

A day earlier, the Dominican Republic told Hegseth that Washington could use an air base and an airport for its operations.

Reacting defiantly to what he insists is an attempt to overthrow his government, Maduro has been staging military exercises and mass rallies aimed at projecting strength and popular support.

The growing tensions have now led to major disruptions in air travel to and from Venezuela, which reacted furiously to airlines that have suspended flights. On Thursdays, six airlines were banned for supporting what Caracas called "the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States."