Washington– Defense Minister Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced another decision A fatal American strike on a boat He said he was dealing drugs in the Caribbean.
Thursday’s attack killed three people on board the ship, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters to at least 69 people in at least 17 raids, Hegseth said.
Hegseth posted a 20-second video of the strike on social media and wrote: “As we have said before, ship strikes on drug terrorists will continue until their poisoning of the American people stops.” He claimed that the ship “was operated by a designated terrorist organization.”
President Donald Trump justified the strikes by saying that the United States was there “Armed conflict” with drug gangs He claims that the boats are operated by Foreign terrorist organizations. The administration did not provide evidence or further details.
Hegseth and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio He briefed a small group of congressional leaders on Wednesday on the growing military campaign, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.
Republicans appeared either silent or expressing confidence in the campaign. Democrats said Congress needs more information about how the strikes were carried out and the legal justification for actions that critics say violate international and US law by killing alleged drug traffickers on the high seas.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would have restricted Trump’s ability to launch an attack on Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump’s high-stakes campaign against President Nicolas Maduro.