Trump discloses US targeted a third alleged drug boat from Venezuela
President Donald Trump disclosed Tuesday that the U.S. government had “knocked off” what he said was a total of three alleged drug smuggling boats, all apparently from Venezuela, a country whose leader his administration has villainized while dramatically escalating the use of deadly force in a bid to disrupt the Latin American narcotics trade.
The president, speaking to reporters outside the White House, offered no other details about the previously undisclosed incident. The White House and the Pentagon declined to address questions about the third vessel, including when it was struck, where it was struck, and how many people were aboard.
Trump was responding to a question about what message the sudden spike in military activity was intended to send Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro when he informed reporters, “We knocked off actually three boats, not two, but you saw two.”
It appears the president was referring to two recent social media posts of his. On Monday, he announced that U.S. forces had killed three alleged drug smugglers earlier in the day. He made a similar announcement Sept. 2, saying the U.S. military had killed 11 people in a boat also accused of transporting illegal narcotics to the United States.
In both posts, which appeared on Trump’s Truth Social platform, the president included overhead video of the boats erupting in flames.
The Trump administration has not identified what military assets were used in these operations and, to date, it has not publicized any evidence verifying who was on the boats — and what they were hauling — when U.S. forces blew them up.
In remarks following Monday’s announcement, Trump suggested his administration was preparing to take military action against Latin American cartels that move illicit drugs over land as well. He did not identify specific groups, saying only, “We’re going to be stopping them the same way we stopped the boats.”
Speaking outside the White House on Tuesday, Trump accused Maduro, whom the administration has labeled an illegitimate head of state, of directing the movement of narcotics and criminals — “they’re sending their prisoners,” the president said — from Venezuela to the United States. Trump has shown a particular fascination with the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, alleging Maduro controls the group.
“Stop sending Tren de Aragua into the United States. Stop sending drugs into the United States,” the president said. “ … Stop sending people from your prisons into our country.”
U.S. intelligence agencies, in an assessment from earlier this year, have said that Maduro’s government “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.” Instead, the intelligence agencies assessed, Venezuela’s government mostly considers the group an internal security threat but sometimes tolerates its activities within the country.
The administration’s claim that Maduro controls Tren de Aragua underpinned its invoking of the Alien Enemies Act as justification for deporting suspected gang members from the United States without due process.
This summer, the administration designated a separate group, Cartel de los Soles, as a terrorist and drug trafficking organization allegedly headed by Maduro, and the Justice Department doubled to $50 million an existing reward for information leading to the Venezuelan leader’s arrest.
In recent weeks, Maduro has called up thousands of reservists, saying the moves were necessary to prepare for an invasion.
Democrats in Congress have warned the Trump administration’s “unauthorized” actions risk starting a war with Venezuela while indicating they are likely to stage a formal challenge to the president under the War Powers Act.
-
• Samantha Schmidt in Bogotá, and Tara Copp, Karen DeYoung and Noah Robertson in Washington contributed.