Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced another deadly U.S. strike on a boat he said was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.
The attack Thursday killed three people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 69 people in at least 17 strikes.
Hegseth posted a 20-second video of the strike on social media and wrote, “As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their … poisoning of the American people stops.” He claimed the vessel was “operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations. The administration has not provided evidence or more details.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed a small group of congressional leaders Wednesday on the growing military campaign, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.
Republicans emerged either staying silent or expressing confidence in the campaign. Democrats said Congress needs more information on how the strikes are conducted and the legal justification for actions that critics say violate international and U.S. law by killing alleged drug smugglers on the high seas.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.