Trump administration announces 17th deadly strike on an alleged drug boat

WASHINGTON– Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a deadly new US strike against a boat he said was smuggling narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.

Thursday’s attack killed three people aboard the ship, Hegseth said, bringing the Trump administration’s campaign toll in South American waters to at least 69 people in at least 17 strikes.

Hegseth posted a 20-second video of the strike on social media and wrote: “As we have said before, ship strikes against narcoterrorists will continue until their…poisoning of the American people ceases.” ” He claimed the ship was “operated by a designated terrorist organization.”

President Donald Trump justified the strikes by saying the United States was in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats were operated by foreign terrorist organizations. The administration provided no evidence or further details.

Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed a small group of congressional leaders on Wednesday about the growing military campaign, providing one of the first high-level looks at the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.

Republicans came out either remaining silent or expressing confidence in the campaign. Democrats said Congress needed more information about how the strikes are carried out and the legal justification for actions that critics say violate international and U.S. law by killing suspected drug traffickers on the high seas.

Senate Republicans on Thursday voted to reject legislation that would have curbed Trump’s ability to launch an attack on Venezuela, while Democrats pressed Congress to play a bigger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against President Nicolas Maduro.