WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump mentioned the U.S. army on Monday once more focused a ship allegedly carrying medicine from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel.
“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 mentioned in a Reality Social put up saying 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 practically two weeks after one other army strike on what the Trump administration mentioned was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela that killed 11.
Chatting with reporters within the Oval Workplace afterward Monday, Trump mentioned he had been proven footage of the newest strike by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees.
Requested what proof the U.S. has that the vessel was carrying medicine, 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 and fentanyl all over the place.”
The Trump administration has justified the primary strike as a crucial escalation to stem the circulation of medicine into the US.
However a number of senators, Democrats and a few Republicans, have indicated their dissatisfaction with the administration’s rationale and questioned the legality of the motion. They view it as a possible overreach of govt authority partially as a result of the army was used for regulation enforcement functions.
The Trump administration has claimed self-defense as a authorized justification for the primary strike, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio arguing the drug cartels “pose an immediate threat” to the nation.
U.S. officers mentioned the strike early this month focused Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group. They usually indicated extra army strikes on drug targets can be coming because the U.S. seems to “wage war” on cartels.
Trump didn’t specify whether or not Tren de Aragua was additionally the goal of Monday’s strike.
The Venezuelan authorities didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the reported strike.
The Trump administration has railed particularly in opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for the scourge of unlawful medicine in U.S. communities.
Maduro throughout a press convention earlier on Monday lashed out on the U.S. authorities, accusing the Trump administration of utilizing drug trafficking accusations as an excuse for a army operation whose intentions are “to intimidate and seek regime change” within the South American nation.
Maduro additionally repudiated what he described as a weekend operation by which 18 Marines raided a Venezuelan fishing boat within the Caribbean.
“What were they looking for? Tuna? What were they looking for? A kilo of snapper? Who gave the order in Washington for a missile destroyer to send 18 armed Marines to raid a tuna fishing vessel?” he mentioned. “They were looking for a military incident. If the tuna fishing boys had any kind of weapons and used weapons while in Venezuelan jurisdiction, it would have been the military incident that the warmongers, extremists who want a war in the Caribbean, are seeking.”
“We’re not going to have a cartel, operating or masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere,” Rubio mentioned.
AP and others have reported that the boat had circled and was heading again to shore when it was struck. However Rubio on Monday mentioned he didn’t know if that’s correct.
“What needs to start happening is some of these boats need to get blown up,” Rubio mentioned. “We can’t live in a world where all of a sudden they do a U-turn and so we can’t touch them anymore.”
AP author Matthew Lee in Jerusalem contributed reporting.
Initially Printed: September 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM EDT
