Sept. 15, 2025
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The U.S. army performed its second lethal strike on an alleged drug-carrying vessel off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump introduced Sept. 15, as his administration continues an aggressive army marketing campaign within the Caribbean.
American forces performed a “Kinetic Strike towards positively recognized, terribly violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists,” Trump wrote in a social media publish, which included an overhead video of a ship—possible captured from a drone—in undefined waters earlier than the vessel exploded in a fireball. The boat gave the impression to be stationary within the water earlier than it was hit. Trump stated three males within the boat had been killed by U.S. forces within the engagement.
“The Strike occurred whereas these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela had been in Worldwide Waters transporting unlawful narcotics,” Trump wrote. The U.S. authorities didn’t instantly present any proof for that declare.
“These extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. Nationwide Safety, Overseas Coverage, and important U.S. Pursuits,” Trump added. He stated no U.S. forces had been injured conducting the strike.
Talking within the Oval Workplace later within the day, Trump stated he was proven video of the strike by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers Air Pressure Gen. Dan Caine.
The U.S. army didn’t say how the strike was performed, or whether or not U.S. forces made any try and interdict the boat or make any contact with the people on the vessel earlier than conducting the strike, nor whether or not any warnings had been supplied to people within the boat earlier than being blown up.
A Pentagon spokesperson didn’t present any operational particulars concerning the strike when requested concerning the army motion. A spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. forces within the area, referred inquiries to the White Home, which didn’t reply.
The U.S. has vital airpower within the area that might have carried out the strike, in addition to seaborne programs, equivalent to Tomahawk missile-carrying Navy ships. The strike comes a day after U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs landed at an airfield in Puerto Rico on Sept. 14. At the very least two MQ-9 Reaper drones have been noticed stationed at a unique air base on the U.S. territory and had been photographed armed with what seem like Hellfire surface-to-air missiles earlier this month. The Navy’s Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima is within the Caribbean embarked with vertical or quick takeoff and touchdown AV-8B Harrier fighter jets.
The U.S. has additionally deployed Air Pressure C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane, in addition to KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46 Pegasus aerial refuelers, to bases in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The U.S. mission within the area has stirred debate, a lot of which has centered on a earlier Sept. 2 airstrike that the U.S. carried out towards a small boat. The second strike will nearly definitely gas additional questions concerning the legality of the strikes, which Democratic and a few Republican members of Congress have questioned. Trump stated that the earlier operation additionally focused “narcoterrorists” from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and their cargo of medication.
Trump administration officers haven’t publicly mentioned the main points of the Sept. 2 and Sept. 15 missions.
The Sept. 2. strike, which killed 11 individuals, was carried out by drone, in line with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a member of the Senate Overseas Relations Committee. That will imply the strike was nearly definitely performed by MQ-9, equivalent to those stationed in Puerto Rico, and Trump launched comparable movies of each the Sept. 2 and Sept. 15 strikes.
In a Sept. 4 notification to Congress relating to the Sept. 2 strike, Trump wrote there could possibly be the “potential for additional such actions” and indicated the army marketing campaign was at present open-ended.
“Within the face of the shortcoming or unwillingness of some states within the area to handle the persevering with risk to United States individuals and pursuits emanating from their territories, now we have now reached a vital level the place we should meet this risk to our residents and our most significant nationwide pursuits with United States army pressure in self-defense,” Trump wrote on the time. “It’s not doable at the moment to know the complete scope and length of army operations that might be vital. United States forces stay postured to hold out additional army operations.”
Hegseth supplied comparable remarks.
“Narco-terrorists are enemies of the USA—actively bringing demise to our shores,” Hegseth wrote in a publish on X. “We’ll cease at nothing to defend our homeland and our residents. We’ll observe them, kill them, and dismantle their networks all through our hemisphere—on the instances and locations of our selecting.”
Audio of this text is delivered to you by the Air & Area Forces Affiliation, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their households. Discover out extra at afa.org