WASHINGTON — The Middle East region will be without a US Navy aircraft carrier for the first time in nearly a year as the USS Gerald R. Ford departs the eastern Mediterranean Sea to join a buildup of American military forces off the coast of Venezuela.

Late last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Ford — the Navy’s flagship carrier — to head to the Caribbean Sea as part of what President Donald Trump has described as an armed conflict with drug cartels. Analysts and former military officials say the buildup appears to be an attempt to coerce the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

Why it matters: The Ford’s departure from the eastern Mediterranean means the White House won’t be able to call on the Navy’s round-the-clock strike capabilities in the Middle East until another US carrier arrives.

The redeployment comes as the Pentagon has quietly reduced its deterrent presence in the region in the months since Trump authorized long-range B-2 bomber strikes that damaged three of Iran’s core nuclear enrichment facilities in late June.