President Donald Trump said on Monday, September 15, that the US military again targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboard the vessel.
"The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the US," Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the strike. "These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests."
The strike that Trump says was carried out Monday came two weeks after another military strike on what the Trump administration says was a drug-carrying speedboat from Venezuela that killed 11.
The Trump administration justified the earlier strike as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. But several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, have indicated dissatisfaction with the administration’s rationale and questioned the legality of the action. They view it as a potential overreach of executive authority in part by using the military for law enforcement purposes.
Maduro says Caracas will 'defend itself'
Tensions between longtime foes the United States and Venezuela reached new heights in recent weeks after Trump dispatched eight warships to waters near Venezuela to pressure Maduro.
The United States accuses the leftist of heading a cocaine trafficking cartel and recently doubled its bounty for his capture to $50 million. Much of the international community rejected his July 2024 re-election, with the opposition claiming widespread fraud.
Maduro hit back on Monday, branding US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the "lord of death and war" over his tough rhetoric on Latin American cartels. Referring to the US naval build-up and the earlier boat attack, Maduro told reporters that Caracas would "fully" exercise its "legitimate right to defend itself."
In an interview with Fox News during a visit to Jerusalem on Monday, Rubio defended the attack on the boat traveling in international waters, amid questions over its legality. "We have 100% fidelity and certainty that that boat was involved in that trafficking of those drugs," Rubio said. "What needs to start happening is some of these boats need to get blown up," the US top diplomat said, claiming the number of boats carrying drugs to the United States had "dropped dramatically" since the first missile strike.