General Caine began his Caribbean tour with a visit to troops deployed in Puerto Rico

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, began his Caribbean tour with a visit to troops stationed in Puerto Rico and a warship deployed to the area. The visit comes at a critical moment in a possible U.S. military intervention against the Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela and following the official designation of the Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump Administration.

A visit to "thank" soldiers for their service amid rising tension

According to Caine's office, the chief of staff's visit is intended to check the status of the troops on-site and "thank them for their extraordinary support for regional missions."

As part of his agenda, Caine has also scheduled a visit to Trinidad and Tobago, which will occur throughout Tuesday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Trump's "favorite" general and the man who took down ISIS

Caine's track record is particularly unblemished. He was one of the pilots tasked with protecting Washington during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when Al Qaeda hijackers crashed commercial airliners into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York, in the worst terrorist attack in the country's history.

He also held several positions in Washington. He served as associate director of military affairs for the CIA from 2021 to 2024 and was a White House fellow at the Department of Agriculture. In addition, he is a specialist in antiterrorism at the White House National Security Council.

Moreover, the now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was the man who convinced the Republican president that it was possible to destroy ISIS in just weeks in 2018, during his first term. Since returning to the White House, he was a key part in the design and execution of Operation "Midnight Hammer," with which the U.S. struck Iran by surprise, leaving its nuclear facilities heavily affected.

Caine is currently directly overseeing "Operation Southern Lance," which is trying to crack down on drug trafficking in the Caribbean area.