President Trump is considering attacks on land targets as part of his campaign to stem the flow of drugs from Venezuela after five recent boat attacks.
President Trump says airstrike killed six “narco-terrorists”
President Trump says U.S. forces have killed six “narco-terrorists” in a boat attack off the coast of Venezuela.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he is considering U.S. military strikes against land targets to counter the flow of drugs from Venezuelan cartels to the United States, following five recent maritime attacks on alleged drug-smuggling vessels.
President Trump told reporters on October 15: “We are certainly looking to the land now because the oceans are well managed.”
President Trump made the remarks after the New York Times reported that his administration had secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to carry out covert operations in Venezuela in an escalating campaign against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
President Trump confirmed the report and said the move was in response to Venezuelan immigrants and drugs entering the United States.
“We understand that a lot of Venezuelan drugs come in by sea, but we’re going to stop them from the land as well,” Trump said.
President Trump did not specify the location of possible attacks on land targets.
Asked by reporters whether the CIA had the authority to “remove” Maduro, Trump said: “I guess that’s a stupid question for me to answer, but I think Venezuela is feeling the heat.”
On October 14, the US military carried out its fifth attack on a boat in the Caribbean since September, killing six people. President Trump said each was a “narcoterrorist” trying to bring illegal drugs into the United States. A total of 26 people were killed in the five boat attacks.
In February, President Trump designated some drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a move that officials say gives them legal justification for attacks.
But the Trump administration has yet to provide Congress with evidence to support its claims that the alleged drug smuggling vessel was carrying drugs. Democrats and other critics have questioned President Trump’s legal basis for using the military to attack ships that pose no imminent threat of attack, even if they are carrying drugs.
Contact Joey Garrison at X @joeygarrison
