![\"The](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/NYAMNYBFQ5DVXPXBER6SCBMJBQ.jpg?auth=ed91583ac9e2c06fa452dfd236648de910c75e3c606f442e303fd39c5e75ff0f&quality=80&height=127&width=190&smart=true\")
<\/p>\nWASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump said the U.S. military on Monday again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel, and hinted that the military targeting of cartels could be further expanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.,\u201d Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the strike. \u201cThese extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strike was carried out nearly two weeks after another military strike on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela that killed 11.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
Breaking News<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office later on Monday, Trump said he had been shown footage of the latest strike by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<\/p>\n
Asked what proof the U.S. has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump replied, \u201cWe have proof. All you have to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all over the ocean \u2014 big bags of cocaine and and fentanyl all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump also hinted that U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug smugglers at sea could be expanded to land.<\/p>\n
He said the U.S. military is seeing fewer vessels in the Caribbean since carrying out the first strike early this month. But he said the cartels are still smuggling drugs by land.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re telling the cartels right now we\u2019re going to be stopping them, too,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWhen they come by land we\u2019re going to be stopping them the same way we stopped the boats. … But maybe by talking about it a little bit, it won\u2019t happen. If it doesn\u2019t happen that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later took to X to warn cartels the U.S. would \u201ctrack them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere \u2014 at the times and places of our choosing,\u201d echoing muscular language used by past administrations during the Global War on Terror. The White House also posted a short unclassified video clip on social media of the strike.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
![\"President](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/CJYVGX2ZQFEDJCUWYOD3BPMYI4.jpg?auth=492ba1f797c28cac23da73c7f491d29b6183ae1f83ab491cea31c04926f08150&quality=80&height=127&width=190&focal=2770,577\")
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The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.<\/p>\n
But several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, have indicated their dissatisfaction with the administration\u2019s rationale and questioned the legality of the action. They view it as a potential overreach of executive authority in part because the military was used for law enforcement purposes.<\/p>\n
The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported strike.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has railed specifically against Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro for the scourge of illegal drugs in U.S. communities.<\/p>\n
Maduro during a news conference earlier on Monday lashed out at the U.S. government, accusing the Trump administration of using drug trafficking accusations as an excuse for a military operation whose intentions are \u201cto intimidate and seek regime change\u201d in the South American country.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Fox News earlier Monday, Rubio reiterated that the U.S. doesn\u2019t see Maduro as the rightful leader of Venezuela but as head of a drug cartel. Rubio has consistently depicted Venezuela as a vestige of communist ideology in the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have a cartel, operating or masquerading as a government, operating in our own hemisphere,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n
The US military strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela has sparked controversy and raised questions about the legality and justification of the action. The Trump administration has asserted self-defense as a legal justification for the strike, but several senators have expressed dissatisfaction with the administration\u2019s rationale.<\/p>\n
A: The target of the US military strike was a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela.<\/p>\n
A: Three people were killed in the strike.<\/p>\n
A: The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S.<\/p>\n
A: The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported strike.<\/p>\n
A: The US doesn\u2019t see Maduro as the rightful leader of Venezuela but as head of a drug cartel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US Military Targets Boat Carrying Drugs from Venezuela WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump said the U.S. military on Monday again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel, and hinted that the military targeting of cartels could be further expanded. \u201cThe Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":13287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/6TTUCAEMPNEHFFEGLMTVA7EXGY.jpg?auth=ed1d3aaaeaa5c655974808ebf510a718fcc361f17bdc6a49860c21884ecc65c7&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13288,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13285\/revisions\/13288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}