What we all know : NPR

For over three months, the U.S. navy has repeatedly struck boats within the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, claiming that the vessels have been intending to hold medication into the US. Because the first assault was introduced on Sept. 2, these strikes have occurred practically each week, killing dozens of individuals.

NPR compiled a listing of those boat assaults utilizing posts on Fact Social and X by President Trump and Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth. These posts present grainy video footage of vessels being blown up. The administration has not publicly launched additional proof that the boats have been truly carrying medication and who was on board. Choose lawmakers have been briefed about the U.S. assaults, although a few of them, together with the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Armed Companies Committee, have requested further info.

The strikes are half of a bigger Trump administration technique to focus on what officers name “narco-terrorists.” In a put up on X on Nov. 4, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to “discover and and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking medication to America to poison our residents,” including that “NO cartel terrorist stands an opportunity in opposition to the American navy.”

Of particular curiosity to Trump is concentrating on Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that his administration designated a international terrorist group in January 2025. In dozens of speeches since taking workplace, Trump has accused Tren de Aragua of violent legal exercise inside the US’ borders.

“Such organizations torture, maim, mutilate and homicide with impunity,” Trump stated in an tackle to the United Nations on Sept. 23. “And because of this, we have not too long ago begun utilizing the supreme energy of the US navy to destroy Venezuelan terrorists and trafficking networks led by [Venezuelan President] Nicolás Maduro.” The Venezuelan authorities denies the costs that it performs a job in drug trafficking.

Authorized students query whether or not the chief department has the unilateral authority to launch these assaults in worldwide waters with out an authorization of power from Congress. The administration claims it does have the authority, and the president has stated he does not want a congressional declaration of conflict.

There are additionally studies that these strikes have endangered and killed civilians. Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused the U.S. of murdering a Colombian fisherman with no ties to drug smuggling in a September strike. Relations between the US and a few Latin American nations had already begun to pressure since Trump took workplace. This newest high-profile navy operation within the area marks a major additional erosion.