A disturbing video of a boat that was intercepted by a U.S. warship has been released after Trump launched another attack on Venezuela this week
The Venezuelan government released a shocking video of a vessel that was intercepted by a U.S. warship in international waters.
Donald Trump claimed that the military had destroyed an alleged Venezuelan drug boat that was traveling to the U.S.
Three men were killed in the attack on “violent drug trafficking cartels,” said the president, who provided no evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs.
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Video of the incident’s aftermath was posted on X, claiming that the vessel was a tuna boat. “This must be the most expensive military operation in history,” read the post, translated from Spanish.
Shortly before the announcement, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Caracas would defend itself against U.S. “aggression,” calling U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio the “lord of death and war.”
The strike comes nearly two weeks after another military strike was carried out on what Trump called a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela, resulting in 11 deaths.
“This morning, on my orders, U.S. military forces conducted a second kinetic strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists,” Trump said on Truth Social.
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“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels pose a threat to U.S. national security.”
On Monday, Trump said he had been shown footage of the most recent strike by General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
When asked if the U.S. had proof that the ship was carrying drugs, Trump said, “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.”
The president also suggested that the strikes on drug smugglers could be expanded to land, saying that the military is seeing fewer vessels in the Caribbean since carrying out the first strike this month; however, cartels are still smuggling drugs by land.
“We’re telling the cartels right now we’re going to be stopping them, too,” said Trump. “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.”
In a tweet, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned cartels that the U.S. would “track them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere — at the times and places of our choosing.” The White House also shared a short unclassified clip on social media of the strike.
Maduro lashes out
In a press conference on Monday, President Maduro accused the Trump administration of using drug trafficking accusations as an excuse for military operations “to intimidate and seek regime change” within the country.
He slammed the recent operation that saw 18 Marines raid a Venezuelan fishing boat. “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 said.
“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.”
In a Fox News interview, Rubio said that the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro as the rightful leader of Venezuela, but as the head of a drug cartel. “We’re not going to have a cartel operating or masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere,” he said.
After the first military boat strike, Rubio said Trump was “going to use the U.S. military and all the elements of American power to target cartels who are targeting America.”
