WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. collided with another small boat President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has been charged with transporting drugs and killing six people in waters off the coast of Venezuela.
The president said in a social media post that those killed in the attack were on board the ship and that no U.S. forces were harmed. This is the fifth fatality in the Caribbean region, which the Trump administration claims is treating suspected drug traffickers unfairly. illegal combatant We must counter anyone with military force.
President Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the attack Tuesday morning and, as he has in the past, released a video of it. Hegseth later shared the video on X’s post.
The black-and-white video showed a small boat that appeared to be stationary on the water. A few seconds after the video begins, a projectile hits him overhead and explodes. The boat is then seen afloat in flames for several seconds.
Trump said the attack took place in international waters and that “intelligence agencies” confirmed the ship was trafficking drugs, had ties to a “narco-terrorist network” and was on a known drug trafficking route.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking more information about the boat collision, but a defense official confirmed the details in the social media post were accurate. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the strike and spoke on condition of anonymity.
What are the long-term effects?
James Storey served as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela from 2018 to 2023, serving under President Trump’s first term and President Joe Biden. He told The Associated Press that ongoing attacks on U.S. military vessels in the Caribbean could ultimately hamper counternarcotics efforts. Storey said the attack would ruffle the feathers of longtime American allies in the region, such as Colombia, and was likely to “undermine our ability to gather intelligence” from allies to crack down on drug trafficking organizations.
“If they believe that the information they give us will result in what could be described as an extrajudicial killing, and there’s no one here who sympathizes with the plight of drug traffickers…that puts us in a pretty bad position,” Storey said. “It would put us in violation of international law and undermine our ability to operate in the hemisphere.”
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, dissatisfaction with the Trump administration is growing among members of both major political parties. Some Republican lawmakers are seeking more information from the White House about the legal legitimacy and details of the attack. Democrats say the attack violates U.S. and international law.
Last week, the Senate voted on a war powers resolution that would have barred the Trump administration from conducting airstrikes unless specifically authorized by Congress, but it did not pass.
In a memo to Congress obtained by The Associated Press, the Trump administration said it had “determined that the United States is engaged in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations” and that the president had directed the Pentagon to “conduct operations against them under the laws of armed conflict.”
The Trump administration has yet to provide lawmakers with basic evidence to prove that. boat Those targeted by the U.S. military were indeed in possession of drugs, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Lawmakers say Trump has limited authority on this issue
Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff, who pushed for a vote on the Venezuela resolution last week, said in a post on X that the president’s powers to respond to armed attacks or threats thereof are limited and do not apply.
“These continued airstrikes, which have killed 27 people so far, risk drawing the United States into a full-scale war,” Schiff said. He said he would call for a new vote if the strike continues.
The strike continued Increased U.S. naval power It’s unlike anything seen in the Caribbean recently.
Following Tuesday’s strike, Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and a close ally of President Nicolás Maduro, called on reporters to fight against U.S. “lies” being used to justify a possible invasion.
The government convened dozens of foreign and local media leaders to convey Rodriguez’s message.
“The purpose is not to seek the truth, much less to fight drug trafficking,” Rodriguez said. It’s about “looking for ways to find excuses for aggression.”
“We are not asking you to make something up, but rather to stick to the truth,” he said.
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Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Washington, Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to this report.
