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Dozens of strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean have killed more than 80 people since September
John Bowdenin Washington, D.C.Wednesday 03 December 2025 22:56 GMTComments
CloseTrump says 'this is war' as he plans to ramp up attacks on land in Venezuela
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Donald Trump insisted that the U.S. was at “war” with a list of drug cartels in Venezuela as a military buildup in the Caribbean continues amid the president’s threats of further strikes.
The president made the comment on Wednesday afternoon at the White House during a press availability, while claiming there was popular support for his decision to use military assets instead of law enforcement capabilities to fight drug trafficking efforts in the Caribbean, Central America and South America.
“I think you’re going to find that this is war, that these people were killing our people by millions,” the president claimed. “I think you’re going to find that there’s a very receptive ear to doing exactly what they’re doing, taking out those boats.
He went on to declare: “And very soon we’re going to start doing it on land too. Because we know every route, we know every house where they manufacture this crap. We know where they put it all together. And I think you’re going to see if very soon on land also.”
The threat of strikes inside Venezuela mark a new escalation in what experts already say is a clear violation of the War Powers resolution, which requires the president to go to Congress for authorization for any military action lasting longer than 60 days. Any strikes targeting members of Nicolas Maduro’s government in Venezuela would also stretch the boundaries of any legal rationalization for using military assets against criminal organizations, even with the administration’s attempts to describe the Maduro government as illegitimate and itself a cartel in control of a state and military force.
open image in galleryDonald Trump and Pete Hegseth are vowing to continue strikes on targets the U.S. alleges are linked to drug trafficking efforts even as polls show a majority of Americans are skeptical of the justification. (AFP via Getty Images)News reports indicated that Maduro is sleeping in different beds every night after Trump began overtly threatening U.S. strikes and authorized plans for covert action inside Venezuela.
So far, Trump’s attacks have only been against boats in the water. Dozens of strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean have killed more than 80 people since September.
Last Thursday, Trump made similar comments about hitting ground targets during a Thanksgiving call with enlisted troops. On Truth Social over the weekend he wrote that the U.S. would enforce a closure of Venezuela’s airspace: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” the U.S. president wrote.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that he will not go to Congress for legal authorization and does not need its approval. The only enforcement mechanism for the War Powers resolution is through congressional action, which Republicans who control the House and Senate will likely continue to avoid.
The president may have less success in shielding his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, from legal ramifications. The Republican-led committees overseeing the armed forces in the House and Senate have both announced plans to investigate the so-called “double tap” strike on a vessel in the Caribbean committed by U.S. forces on Sept. 2, which resulted in U.S. Navy SEALs firing upon and destroying a heavily damaged, burning wreck of a vessel to which at least two survivors of an initial U.S. strike were clinging for survival.
The defense secretary has sought to shift blame for the strike to the Navy’s top officer leading the strike, Adm. Frank Bradley, and Hegseth claimed that he left the room before the second strike was ordered. Experts who spoke to The Independent questioned both the veracity of Hegseth’s explanation and its value, suggesting that as the lead targeting authority for the mission, the secretary would ultimately still be found culpable.
open image in galleryWhite House officials have shared videos of U.S. strikes targeting small Venezuelan vessels they argue are piloted by drug traffickers. The boats are not thought to be bound for U.S. shores or presenting an immediate threat to U.S. military assets. (White House)No prosecution of Bradley or Hegseth is even remotely likely to occur under a Trump presidency, but the House and Senate committees investigating the matter could still turn up evidence that could be used if the matter was examined by a future administration.
Trump’s remarks on Wednesday, in addition to lacking a clear legal basis as a declaration of war, marked a U-turn for a president who’d been insisting for months that he was not planning to attack Venezuela.
He was asked in October if media reports stating that he was considering strikes on the Venezuelan mainland were accurate, and responded: “No.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, one of his GOP allies, claimed on CNN just this past weekend: “He’s made it very clear we’re not going to put troops into Venezuela. What we’re trying to do is protect our own shores.”
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