US kills 6 people in strike on boat accused of carrying drugs near
Venezuela, Trump says
[October 15, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States struck another small boat accused of
carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people,
President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
Those who died in the strike were aboard the vessel, and no U.S. forces
were harmed, the president said in a social media post. It’s the fifth
deadly strike in the Caribbean as Trump's administration has asserted
it's treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must
be met with military force.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the strike Tuesday morning, said
Trump, who released a video of it as he has in the past. Hegseth later
shared the video in a post on X.
The black-and-white video showed a small boat that appeared stationary
on the water. Seconds into the video, it is struck by a projectile from
overhead and explodes. The boat is then seen floating aflame for several
seconds.
Trump said the strike was conducted in international waters and
“intelligence” confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was
associated with “narcoterrorist networks” and was on a known drug
trafficking route.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated
Press seeking more information on the latest boat strike, but one
defense official confirmed that the details in the social media post
were accurate. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the
strike and spoke on condition of anonymity.
What could the long-term impact be?
James Story, former U.S. ambassador for the Venezuela Affairs Unit from
2018 to 2023, served under Trump’s first term and under President Joe
Biden. He told The Associated Press that ongoing American strikes on
boats in the Caribbean may ultimately hinder counternarcotics efforts.
By ruffling the feathers of longtime American allies in the region like
Colombia, Story said, the strikes likely “hurt our ability to gather
intelligence” from allies to crack down on drug trafficking
organizations.
“If they believe that the intelligence they provide us will result in
what some could describe as an extrajudicial killing, and nobody here is
sympathetic to the plight of drug traffickers ... that puts us in a
pretty bad spot,” Story said. ”It puts us in contravention with
international law and it undermines our ability to work in the
hemisphere.”
Meanwhile, frustration with the Trump administration has been growing on
Capitol Hill among members of both major political parties. Some
Republicans are seeking more information from the White House on the
legal justification and details of the strikes. Democrats contend the
strikes violate U.S. and international law.
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President Donald Trump waits to greet Argentina's President Javier
Milei, as he arrives at the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The Senate last week voted on a war powers resolution that would
have barred the Trump administration from conducting the strikes
unless Congress specifically authorized them, but it failed to pass.
In a memo to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press, the
Trump administration said it had “determined that the United States
is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated
terrorist organizations” and that Trump directed the Pentagon to
“conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed
conflict.”
The Trump administration has yet to provide underlying evidence to
lawmakers proving that the boats targeted by the U.S. military were
in fact carrying narcotics, according to two U.S. officials familiar
with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and
spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Congressman says Trump's authority in this matter is limited
California Sen. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who last week pushed the
vote on the Venezuela resolution, said in a post on X that the
president’s authority to respond to an armed attack or the threat of
one was limited and did not apply.
“These continued strikes — 27 killed to date — risk getting the U.S.
into a full fledged war,” Schiff said. He said he would push for
another vote if the strikes continue.
The strikes followed a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the
Caribbean unlike any seen in recent times.
Following Tuesday's strike, Jorge Rodríguez, president of
Venezuela’s National Assembly and a close ally of President Nicolás
Maduro, called on the press to combat U.S. “lies” that are being
used to justify a possible invasion.
The government had convened foreign media and dozens of leaders of
local media outlets for Rodríguez’s message.
“The objective is not the search for the truth and much less
fighting drug trafficking,” Rodríguez said. It’s about “looking for
the way to have an excuse for aggression.”
“We’re not asking you to make up anything, but rather to defend the
truth,” he said.
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Associated Press writer Ben Finley in Washington, Jorge Rueda in
Caracas, Venezuela, and Megan Janetsky in Mexico City contributed to
this report.
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