The U.S. military carried out another strike on a small boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing six people, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, marking the fifth such operation in recent weeks as his administration escalates its campaign against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
Trump said on his Truth Social account that the vessel was "affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization" and that "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route." The president added that the strike took place "in International Waters" and that "six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed."
The strike was ordered Tuesday morning by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to Trump, who released an unclassified video of the operation, similar to those he had shared after previous attacks. Hegseth later reposted the footage on X. The Pentagon has not commented publicly on the details of the latest strike or provided independent confirmation of the administration's claims.
The attack represents the continuation of a policy under which the Trump administration has designated suspected narcotics traffickers as "unlawful combatants," subject to military targeting. Officials say the campaign is aimed at disrupting transnational drug networks operating in waters near Latin America. However, members of Congress in both parties have expressed frustration over the lack of transparency and legal clarity surrounding the strikes.
According to a memo obtained by the Associated Press, the administration told Congress it had "determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations" and that the president had authorized the Pentagon to "conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict." Two U.S. officials familiar with the strikes said lawmakers have not yet been presented with evidence confirming that the targeted vessels were transporting narcotics.
The Senate last week narrowly rejected a war powers resolution that would have required congressional authorization for future strikes. Some lawmakers argued that the administration's use of force may violate both domestic and international law, while others urged the White House to share more intelligence about the alleged links between the targeted vessels and terrorist or trafficking groups.
Venezuela has denounced the operations as unlawful acts of aggression. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said during a televised address that the accusations of narcotics trafficking were "false" and that the true U.S. objective was "to force a regime change" in Caracas. He warned that the deployment of American naval assets in the Caribbean was "not a mere propaganda-like action" but part of a broader "warmongering" strategy.
"I want to warn the population: We have to prepare ourselves because the irrationality with which the U.S. empire operates is not normal," Padrino said. "It's anti-political, anti-human, warmongering, rude, and vulgar."
