President Trump announced today that he authorized another military strike against a Venezuelan narco-terrorist vessel operating in international waters off the country’s coast. The president said the action was part of his administration’s ongoing campaign to dismantle transnational drug cartels and protect U.S. national security interests in the Western Hemisphere.
Trump posted on his Truth Social page with an unclassified video of what appears to be another narco-boat being destroyed:
Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela.
Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route. The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!
The video was also posted to other social media, including, of course, X:
Trump said six suspected narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel. Here’s more reporting from The Hill:
President Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. military killed six alleged “narcoterrorists” in a “kinetic” strike off the coast of Venezuela.
The president said the boat was affiliated with a designated terrorist organization and was struck Tuesday morning in the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) area of responsibility.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike.”
No U.S. troops were harmed in the operation, the president said.
On his official X account, War Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a stern warning to the cartels, declaring that the United States will not back down in its mission to crush narco-terrorist networks and protect the American people – nor, obviously, had the president’s eye been taken off the ball while negotiating peace in the Middle East:
At the President’s direction, the Department of War is establishing a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the @SOUTHCOM area of responsibility to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe. The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold.
This marks the fifth U.S. strike on Venezuelan narco-terrorist vessels in recent months. As Townhall previously reported, American warships destroyed a drug-laden boat on September 2 that was en route to the United States. Another strike on October 3 took out a second vessel, killing four traffickers.
In total, 27 narco-terrorists have been killed in these precision operations — a clear message that the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on cartel activity is not just rhetoric.
Earlier this month, on October 9, Senate Democrats attempted to tie the president’s hands by invoking the War Powers Act to stop further strikes. The measure, led by Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), narrowly failed 48-51, after Republicans – with notable exceptions like that pretend Republican Rand Paul – stood firm in support of Trump’s campaign to dismantle transnational criminal networks before they reach U.S. shores.