Trump releases video of latest strike against alleged cartel drug boats

Early in Trump’s term, the president significantly changed the rules of engagement with drug cartels.

Trump declared them terrorist organizations, which is likely to allow him to use the military to engage these criminals.

Trump has now carried out about half a dozen strikes, and he just released the video of the latest strike.

Armed Conflict

In order to declare war, a president needs to get the approval of Congress.

Trump seemed to override that duty, just telling Congress we are in an “armed conflict” with these criminal organizations, and his intent to use the military against them.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated, “As we have said many times, the President acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans.”

The memo to Congress stated, "Based upon the cumulative effects of these hostile acts against the citizens and interests of the United States and friendly foreign nations, the president determined that the United States is in a noninternational armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations.”

The Strike

Last week, it was announced that Trump had green-lit another strike, but this one actually left survivors.

Two people were reportedly killed in the strike, but two of the individuals on the boat clearly survived.

Trump was also asked about the CIA working within Venezuela, and Trump responded, “I authorized for two reasons, really. No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.

“And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela.”

Video Released

There is nothing like video to get the American people behind an operation like this, so Trump declassified the video from the latest attack and posted it.

Along with the video, Trump posted, "It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE. U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl… There were four known narcoterrorists on board. Two of the terrorists were killed.

"The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution."

While Trump has plenty of support on this strategy, there are members within the GOP, such as Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who have openly stated these actions are illegal. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as we move forward, especially if the GOP loses the House and/or Senate in the 2026 election.