The Trump administration has been portraying Venezuela's Tren de Aragua as a unified terrorist force, with thousands of members allegedly operating in the US. However, internal US government records obtained by WIRED paint a vastly different picture. Intelligence taskings, law-enforcement bulletins, and drug-task-force assessments reveal that agencies struggled to determine whether TdA even functioned as an organized entity in the US.
The documents obtained by WIRED flag unresolved questions about TdA's US footprint, including its size, financing, and weapons access. Analysts were unable to confirm the group's leadership structure or its ability to coordinate activities across the country. Field-level reporting from law enforcement agencies consistently described TdA as a fragmented, profit-driven criminal group with no indication of centralized command or strategic coordination.
The administration's claims about TdA's capabilities and intentions have been contradicted by internal assessments and intelligence reports. A Border Patrol assessment obtained by WIRED found that officials could not substantiate the claim that TdA members had "infiltrated our country." US attorney general Pam Bondi described TdA as a "foreign arm of the Venezuelan government" with a command structure, but these claims were not supported by evidence.
The documents also reveal significant uncertainty about TdA's activities in the US. Intelligence gaps and lack of corroborated facts led analysts to infer estimates rather than fact-based conclusions. The FBI's Terrorism Screening Center convened an interagency working group to address knowledge gaps, but the reports from this group are largely vague and attribute crimes loosely to TdA without clear evidence.
The administration's characterization of TdA as a threat to national security has been at odds with internal assessments. A classified National Intelligence Council assessment found no evidence that TdA was directed by the Venezuelan government. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence dismissed this finding, instead suggesting that the lack of evidence was due to competing priorities and "deep state actors" acting in conjunction with the media.
The reports on TdA's activities in the US have been inconsistent and often vague, attributing crimes to the group without clear evidence. The document also mentions that suspected identity theft was used by TdA members to exploit delivery drivers' accounts on services such as Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub.
The documents obtained by WIRED flag unresolved questions about TdA's US footprint, including its size, financing, and weapons access. Analysts were unable to confirm the group's leadership structure or its ability to coordinate activities across the country. Field-level reporting from law enforcement agencies consistently described TdA as a fragmented, profit-driven criminal group with no indication of centralized command or strategic coordination.
The administration's claims about TdA's capabilities and intentions have been contradicted by internal assessments and intelligence reports. A Border Patrol assessment obtained by WIRED found that officials could not substantiate the claim that TdA members had "infiltrated our country." US attorney general Pam Bondi described TdA as a "foreign arm of the Venezuelan government" with a command structure, but these claims were not supported by evidence.
The documents also reveal significant uncertainty about TdA's activities in the US. Intelligence gaps and lack of corroborated facts led analysts to infer estimates rather than fact-based conclusions. The FBI's Terrorism Screening Center convened an interagency working group to address knowledge gaps, but the reports from this group are largely vague and attribute crimes loosely to TdA without clear evidence.
The administration's characterization of TdA as a threat to national security has been at odds with internal assessments. A classified National Intelligence Council assessment found no evidence that TdA was directed by the Venezuelan government. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence dismissed this finding, instead suggesting that the lack of evidence was due to competing priorities and "deep state actors" acting in conjunction with the media.
The reports on TdA's activities in the US have been inconsistent and often vague, attributing crimes to the group without clear evidence. The document also mentions that suspected identity theft was used by TdA members to exploit delivery drivers' accounts on services such as Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub.
. It's wild to think that the Trump admin was basically saying that a bunch of Venezuelan dudes were running around the US, causing chaos and whatnot... but it turns out they had no idea if that even happened in the first place 
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. And don't even get me started on the whole "foreign arm of the Venezuelan government" thing - that's some serious conspiracy theorist stuff right there 
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. Anyway, kudos to WIRED for digging up these docs and giving us a glimpse into what's really going on here 
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theyre saying tren de aragua is a terrorist org but these new docs show its like completely different story 
internal us gov records are saying theres no clear leader or coordinated activities across the country 
seems fishy 2 me btw i feel bad 4 venezuelan ppl being stereotyped like dis
the trump admin's claims about venezuela's tren de aragua are totally baseless 
they're painting a group of innocent people as terrorists just to stir up drama 
meanwhile, we're over here trying to figure out how many people are actually exploiting delivery drivers' accounts on uber and grubhub 
. It seems like they don't even know if it's a real threat or not 
. I mean, if there's no clear evidence of a command structure or coordinated activities, how can you call them a terrorist group? 
That sounds sketchy 
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. Like, they can't even confirm if it's a real thing or just a bunch of random bad guys doing their own thang 
. And now I see where they got this idea from, just some wild claims and no solid evidence 
. It's like they're trying to paint someone with too broad a brush 
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the trump admin's portrayal of venezuela's tren de aragua sounds super sketchy 
to me... i mean, internal docs show they had no idea if it was even a thing in us 
and now they're saying it's some kinda terrorist force 
and make sure we're not spreading misinformation 
Like, if you ask me, it's probably just some guys trying to make a buck or two by exploiting delivery drivers' accounts... 
I mean, those internal records from the US government are like, super vague and stuff... 
. And don't even get me started on the admin's claims about them infiltrating our country 
. And what's with the whole "deep state actors" thing 
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. And now these internal docs showing agencies can't even confirm if TdA is real or not? Mind blown 
. It's like they're trying to spin this into something it's not, just to get some momentum going 
. I'm all for investigating suspicious groups, but let's not jump to conclusions here