Trump says US strike on vessel in Caribbean targeted Venezuela's Tren de
Aragua gang, killed 11
[September 03, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and REGINA GARCIA
CANO
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday the U.S. has
carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug-carrying
vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by the Tren de
Aragua gang.
The president said in a social media posting that 11 people were killed
in the rare U.S. military operation in the Americas, a dramatic
escalation in the Republican administration's effort to stem the flow of
narcotics from Latin America. Trump also posted a short video clip of a
small vessel appearing to explode in flames.
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International
waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States,”
Trump said on Truth Social. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike.
Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing
drugs into the United States of America.”
The video appears to show a long, multi-engine speedboat traveling at
sea when a bright flash of light bursts over the craft. The boat is then
briefly seen covered in flames.
The video, which is largely in black and white, is not clear enough to
see if the craft is carrying as many as 11 people. The video also did
not show any large or clear stashes of drugs inside the boat.
Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously
lawless prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of
Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as more than 7.7 million
Venezuelans fled economic turmoil and migrated to other Latin American
countries or the U.S.
Trump and administration officials have repeatedly blamed the gang for
being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague
some cities. And the president on Tuesday repeated his claim —
contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren
de Aragua is operating under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's
control.
The White House did not immediately explain how the military determined
that those aboard the vessel were Tren de Aragua members. The size of
the gang is unclear, as is the extent to which its actions are
coordinated across state lines and national borders.
What Maduro had to say
After Trump announced the strike, Venezuelan state television showed
Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores walking the streets of his childhood
neighborhood. A television presenter said Maduro was “bathing in
patriotic love” as he interacted with supporters.
“In the face of imperialist threats, God (is) with us,” Maduro told
supporters.
Maduro did not address the strike directly, but charged that the U.S. is
“coming for Venezuela’s riches,” including oil and gas. The South
American country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
“From the neighborhoods of Caracas ... I tell you, there will be peace
in Venezuela, with sovereignty,” he said.
Communications Minister Freddy Ñáñez questioned the veracity of the
video. “Based on the video provided, it is very likely that it was
created using Artificial Intelligence,” he said on his Telegram account.
He couldn’t say what tools would have been used to create the video, but
said it showed an “almost cartoonish animation, rather than a realistic
depiction of an explosion.”
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio first announced the strike
earlier Tuesday, shortly before Rubio left on a trip to Mexico and
Ecuador for talks on drug cartels, security, tariffs and more.
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President Donald Trump speaks during an event about the relocation
of U.S. Space Command headquarters from Colorado to Alabama in the
Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
In a brief exchange with reporters before departing Miami for Mexico
City, Rubio deferred questions about the specifics of the strike to
the Pentagon. He said the drugs on the vessel were likely headed to
Trinidad or elsewhere in the Caribbean.
For years, Rubio has spoken out against Maduro and other Latin
American leftist governments and supported opposition leaders. In
2018, during Trump’s first term, Rubio told Univision there was a
“strong argument” to be made for the use of the U.S. military in
Venezuela. He's also accused Venezuelan officials of aiding drug
traffickers.
Asked if Trump would carry out operations on Venezuelan soil, Rubio
was opaque. “We’re going to take on drug cartels wherever they are
and wherever they’re operating against the interests of the United
States,” he said.
US sent destroyers to waters off Venezuela
The operation came after the U.S. announced plans last month to
boost its maritime force in the waters off Venezuela to combat
threats from Latin American drug cartels.
Maduro's government has responded by deploying troops along
Venezuela's coast and border with neighboring Colombia, as well as
by urging Venezuelans to enlist in a civilian militia.
Maduro has insisted that the U.S. is building a false
drug-trafficking narrative to try to force him out of office. He and
other government officials have repeatedly cited a United Nations
report that they say shows traffickers attempt to move only 5% of
the cocaine produced in Colombia through Venezuela. Landlocked
Bolivia and Colombia, with access to the Pacific and Caribbean, are
the world’s top cocaine producers.
The latest U.N. World Drug Report shows that various countries in
South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger
cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, but it does not assign
Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent
months.
“The impact of increased cocaine trafficking has been felt in
Ecuador in particular, which has seen a wave of lethal violence in
recent years linked to both local and transnational crime groups,
most notably from Mexico and the Balkan countries,” according to the
report.
Maduro on Monday told reporters he “would constitutionally declare a
republic in arms” if his country were attacked by U.S. forces
deployed to the Caribbean.
___
Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. AP journalists Matthew Lee in
Mexico City, Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, Adriana Gomez Licon
in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and Sagar Meghani in Washington
contributed reporting.
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