Trump Claims Second US Strike Kills 3 On Venezuelan Boat

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump claimed Monday that American forces targeted a second Venezuelan vessel, killing three alleged drug-trafficking terrorists, expanding his anti-cartel military campaign.

Trump gave few details, posting on social media that he ordered the strike earlier that morning, alongside a video showing a boat engulfed in flames.

“The strike occurred while these confirmed narco-terroists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics [A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!] headed to the US,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The carefully worded announcement seemed aimed at heading off legal challenges, following criticism over a prior strike that killed 11 on another Venezuelan vessel.

Administration officials told Congress the first strike was legal under Trump’s Article 2 powers, citing the boat’s ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, recently labeled a foreign terrorist group, The Guardian reported.

Despite claims, little concrete evidence has been shown that the vessel carried narcotics. Responding to reports it was a fishing boat, Trump told The Guardian: “You saw the bags of white... We knew exactly where it came from and where it was heading.”

By calling the second vessel’s crew “terrorists” and highlighting a threat to the US, Trump seemed to be setting up another Article 2 justification.

The strike comes amid a major US military buildup near Venezuela, including F-35 jets in Puerto Rico and Navy destroyers deployed to target drug trafficking.

The naval force includes the Iwo Jima amphibious group—USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale—with 4,500 sailors and 2,200 Marines from the 22nd MEU, The Guardian reported.

Trump has so far reportedly declined to commit to military operations inside Venezuela itself, sidestepping questions about the legality of the strikes.

In Washington, Senator Adam Schiff condemned the strikes and said he’s drafting a resolution to “reclaim Congress’s power to declare war,” warning the actions risk US security and set a dangerous global precedent.

From Caracas, Maduro slammed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “the Lord of Death,” vowing Venezuela would resist foreign aggression.

Analysts doubt a full-scale US assault on Venezuela, viewing the pressure as aimed at triggering defections and appealing to Trump’s domestic base.

Still, Maduro’s allies and regional governments are on edge. In Venezuela, Chavistas have shifted from disbelief to “horror” over Trump’s actions, El País reported.

The paper reported Maduro’s advisers first viewed the naval buildup as a bluff but now fear an invasion. A senior official said, “All that’s left is for them to shoot at the buildings we’re sitting in, damn it.”