President Donald Trump authorized two more strikes against drug cartel boats in international waters as the administration ramps up efforts to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S., Breitbart reported. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the strikes on Sunday killed six men and destroyed their poisonous payload.
Trump has designated the foreign drug traffickers as terrorist organizations and has begun active strikes against these vessels before they reach American shores. The first of such strikes occurred in September, when Trump announced that this would become part of an ongoing effort to stop the cartels from Venezuela and others.
The president said in a social media post on Sept. 2 that the strikes should "serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!" Trump said on his Truth Social. Since then, these strikes have killed at least 76 narcoterrorists, CBS News reported.
Hegseth took to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday to announce the successful completion of Sunday's mission. "Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," Hegseth wrote in a caption to a video of the maneuver.
"These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and were transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific. Both strikes were conducted in international waters and 3 male narco-terrorists were aboard each vessel," Hegseth continued.
"All 6 were killed. No U.S. forces were harmed," Hegseth assured the American people.
"Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people," the Secretary of War concluded. While these missions have been successful, the left has gone crazy over Trump's audacity to take such measures.
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.
These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and… pic.twitter.com/ocUoGzwwDO
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 10, 2025
While the prospect of stopping the drug trade at its source is attractive to many who like law and order, there are objections from the left about Trump's methods and his aggression toward Venezuelan gangs. Volker Turk, who is the U.N.'s head of human rights, said Monday that the strikes have "strong indications" of "extrajudicial killings" and thus deserve additional scrutiny despite having the desired effect of preventing narcotics from making it to American shores.
"I have called for investigations by the US administration first and foremost, because they need to... ask themselves the question: are these violations of international human rights law? Are they extrajudicial killings?" Volker said, echoing some lawmakers who have questioned the president's ability to order these attacks..
"I mean, there are strong indications that they are, but they need to investigate this," Turk added. Meanwhile, Turk has complained that the strikes have occurred "in circumstances that find no justification in international law." This same skepticism has also been shared by lawmakers stateside.
However, a resolution that was proposed in the Senate to check Trump's power to order these strikes failed last week in a 49-51 vote. GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski were the only Republicans to join the Democrats' unanimous vote to put a stop to the strikes, NBC News reported. Some Democratic congressional lawmakers similarly raised concerns about the strikes and Trump's supposed lack of transparency.
These military strikes are taking out the drug trade at the source, just as Trump had promised. The increase in proactive operations is somewhat concerning from a geopolitical standpoint as they may spark retaliatory attacks, but Trump has typically been dovish when it comes to using the military, so it stands to reason that his change of heart comes from a well-informed place.
