President Trump said Wednesday the United States was considering strikes on Venezuelan land, an escalation of the multiple attacks on drug-trafficking boats on the high seas.

The administration announced Tuesday its fifth strike of a boat off in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, which killed six “narcoterrorists” on board.

“We are certainly looking at land now because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office.

But “I don’t want to tell you exactly” how or where such attacks might hit the Venezuelan mainland, he added.

When asked why military strikes were being used rather than having the Coast Guard try to enter onto and seize the boats, he said “we’ve been trying to do that for years.”

“It never worked when you did it in a very politically correct manner,” he said.

The New York Times reported earlier Wednesday that Mr. Trump had secretly authorized the CIA, in what is called a “presidential finding,” to conduct covert action inside Venezuela proper, including operations against socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro.

The report, citing “U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the highly classified document,” cautioned that it was unclear whether operations are actively under way or whether plans were being drawn up simply as a contingency.

U.S. officials have long privately said that the U.S. seeks to drive Mr. Maduro from power, and the Times report said this is the goal of the CIA campaign.

Publicly, the U.S. has withdrawn recognition of his government as legitimate, saying it stole the 2024 election from rightful winner Edmundo Gonzalez. Mr. Trump also ended diplomatic talks with the Maduro government last month and has put a $50 million bounty on his head as a drug kingpin.

When asked at the Wednesday afternoon’s press conference about the New York Times report and whether the agency could “take out” Mr. Maduro, Mr. Trump parried.

“I don’t want to answer a question like that,” he said, calling it “a ridiculous question for me to be given [or] for me to answer.”

Tuesday’s strike was the fifth off the coast of Venezuela. On Sept. 2, the military hit a boat killing 11 on board, who Mr. Trump claimed were members of Tren de Aragua. Subsequent strikes on Sept. 15 and Sept. 19 also resulted in several deaths. Another strike on Oct. 3 hit a boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing four.

Roughly 40 people have been killed in the strikes, including the six who died on Tuesday.

The White House argues the drugs coming in on these boats contribute to the epidemic of overdose deaths in the U.S. Mr. Trump also has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of facilitating the drug trafficking, which he has denied.

• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.