Trump says US struck another drug boat from Venezuela
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said the US military on Monday again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel, and hinted that the military targeting of cartels could be further expanded.
“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.,” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the strike. “These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests.”
The strike was carried out nearly two weeks after another military strike on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela that killed 11.
Spattered in ocean
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office later on Monday, Trump said he had been shown footage of the latest strike by Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Asked what proof the United States has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump replied, “We have proof. All you have to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all over the ocean—big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place.”
Trump also hinted that US military strikes targeting alleged drug smugglers at sea could be expanded to land.
He said the US military is seeing fewer vessels in the Caribbean since carrying out the first strike early this month. But he said the cartels are still smuggling drugs by land.
“We’re telling the cartels right now we’re going to be stopping them, too,” Trump said. “When they come by land we’re going to be stopping them the same way we stopped the boats. … But maybe by talking about it a little bit, it won’t happen. If it doesn’t happen that’s good.”
Necessary escalation
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later took to X to warn cartels the United States would “track them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere—at the times and places of our choosing,” echoing muscular language used by past administrations during the Global War on Terror. The White House also posted a short unclassified video clip on social media of the strike.
The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
‘Overreach’
But several senators, Democrats and some Republicans have indicated their dissatisfaction with the administration’s rationale and questioned the legality of the action. They view it as a potential overreach of executive authority in part because the military was used for law enforcement purposes.
The Trump administration has claimed self-defense as a legal justification for the first strike, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio arguing the drug cartels “pose an immediate threat” to the nation.
US officials said the strike early this month targeted Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.
