President Donald Trump released dramatic video Tuesday of a US military strike that blew up a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean, killing nearly a dozen suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) narco-terrorists.
“Over the last few minutes, [we] literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat,” Trump said at a press conference in the Oval Office. “There are a lot of drugs on that boat. And you will see it and read about it. It only happened a few moments ago.”
The president later shared a video of the strike on Truth Social, confirming that the explosion occurred in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility while the terrorists were in international waters transporting illegal narcotics to the US.
“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action,” Trump stated in the post. “This strike did not result in any casualties among US forces. Please let this serve as a warning to anyone thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for paying attention to this matter!!!!!!”
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Florida, added that the vessel belonged to the Cartel of the Suns.
“This is going swimmingly,” Gimenez stated in an X post. “We continue.”
Ahead of his departure to Mexico City, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that cocaine and fentanyl shipped from Venezuela frequently end up in Puerto Rico before making their way to the United States.
“The President has been very clear that he’s going to use the full power of America and the full might of the United States to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they’re operating from and no matter how long they’ve been able to act with impunity,” Senator Rubio said. “Those days are over.”
Trump claimed that many drug boats are leaving Venezuela and that terrorists are acting on behalf of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“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,” he wrote in the post.
Maduro has not yet publicly commented on the strike.
