A major increase in U.S. naval forces in the south Caribbean Sea has been underway since President Trump signed a directive targeting some cartels.
This seems to be because the courts have ruled that absent an actual war, Trump can’t use the Alien Enemies Act to put people in concentration camps or deport them.
I’ll also note that the US is also purging military leadership
A war will not prevent elections - America has a long history of holding elections on time, including during both World Wars and even the Civil War.
If that truly is one of his goals, it’s dumb, and he probably got the idea from Ukraine. Ukraine did it to prevent Russia from installing a leader of their choosing.
See, you say that, but it’s 100% where he got the idea from, and so far, no one is stopping virtually anything he’s done. He will try it.