President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Tuesday after the U.S. blew up a boat carrying 11 “narcoterrorists” in international waters.
Trump offered little in the way of specifics. Media outlets have yet to independently confirm that the people on board were trafficking drugs, which in the U.S. is not punishable by death.
The president posted a 30-second black-and-white video of the strike on Truth Social. It shows a speedboat gliding in the water before it explodes. He said the vessel was carrying 11 “terrorists” and was in international waters at the time of the strike:
Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere. The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has yet to comment publicly. Trump has accused Maduro’s government of controlling Tren de Aragua, an international criminal organization that originated in the country. Maduro was defiant after Trump deployed warships to the Caribbean, telling his U.S. counterpart that war would “stain your hands with blood.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump revealed the bombing at a press conference at the White House.
“We just over the last few minutes shot out at a boat, a drug-carrying boat,” he said. “These came out of Venezuela… we took it out.”
A senior U.S. official told The New York Times that the boat was hit by either an attack helicopter or a Reaper drone.
In May, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to justify the deportation of Venezuelan nationals, who, he alleged, belonged to the group.