British sailors in US fleet 'ordered NOT to take part' if Donald Trump declares war on Venezuela

At least three officers are said to be serving as "embeds" in the carrier strike group, The Sun revealed, including Lincolnshire-born Lieutenant Commander Owen Long, the navigator on the USS Winston S Churchill.

A Navy source told the newspaper that the sailors have already been dealt orders not to stay working if the US escalates its pursuit of "narco-terrorist" drug gangs into full-scale war.

If Mr Trump orders direct strikes, for example, the officers would step back from their posts.

"The Navy gives them guidance over their role, tells them what they can and cannot do," the source said.

"Anyone on board in any kind of kinetic role would not be involved," they added.

Earlier on Monday, speaking on board the HMS Prince of Wales, British Defence Secretary John Healey hinted that UK personnel would not be drawn in unless it was deemed appropriate under international law.

He was joined by the Foreign Secretary, who warned of "real issues" around drug-smuggling in dictator Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela - but refused to publicly back any American action.

Yvette Cooper said: "So we will continue to work with international partners, continue to discuss these issues with the US, but continue to maintain all those international discussions as well."

Ms Cooper also downplayed claims that Britain cut off some intelligence-sharing with the States over the situation in the Caribbean.

Just days ago, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth formally confirmed the launch of Operation Southern Spear, aimed at wiping out narco-terrorists in the Western Hemisphere.

Mr Hegseth has given the Venezuelan narco-terrorists the chilling nickname "Al-Qaeda of the West" in the past.

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So far, US forces have sunk some 21 "narco boats" and killed at least 83 people off the coast of Venezuela in a bit to cut off a flow of drugs into America by force.

If the world's most powerful military presses ahead with strikes, it could target army bases, drug labs, drug trafficking installations, and even Mr Maduro's paramilitary training camps.

On Monday, Mr Trump said he had not ruled out putting American forces on the ground - having deployed the CIA some weeks ago.

Though in a potential olive branch to Mr Maduro, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House: "I probably would talk to him, yeah. I talk to everybody."

But elsewhere in Latin America, the President raised the prospect of hitting drug factories in Mexico and Colombia.

"Would I knock out those factories? I would be proud to do it personally," he jabbed.

Mr Trump added: "I didn't say I'm doing it, but I would be proud to do it because we're going to save millions of lives."

However, his own Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said there would be no US military intervention in Mexico and that cooperation between the two countries was at an "all-time high."