President Donald Trump last week ordered a U.S. strike on a speedboat in the Caribbean which he said was carrying drugs to the United States. The strike killed 11 alleged Venezuelan gang members aboard, whom the President labeled as “terrorists.” On his Truth Social account, Trump shared a video showing what appeared to be the explosion of a speedboat with people on it. Superimposed on the video is the word “unclassified.”
Moment when American forces carried out a strike on a “narco-boat” departing Venezuela, killing 11 people.
Marco Rubio described them as Marco-terrorists. pic.twitter.com/fqLHAZosMw
— Wolf Brief (@wolfbrief_) September 5, 2025
Trump announced the attack nearly as soon as the mission was completed, telling reporters at the White House on September 2 that “we just, over the last few minutes literally, shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat — a lot of drugs on that boat.”
Trump says US forces attacked a boat carrying drugs to the United States, killing 11 “narcoterrorists” from a gang he alleges is controlled by leftist Venezuelan leader Madurohttps://t.co/HffJCLyJdQ pic.twitter.com/5ucb8WEWTJ
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 3, 2025
The deadly attack was a drastic departure from the traditional interdiction of ships suspected of smuggling drugs in international waters. Using previous protocol, U.S. authorities — from the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard — would board the suspected vessel, seize any contraband, and identify suspects to build a criminal case against the traffickers.
Responding to criticism that the strike may have been illegal and also an improper use of American military forces (since the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela), Vice President JD Vance wrote on social media: “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military.”
Numerous U.S. politicians on both sides of the aisle don’t align with Vance’s view, including Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) who, highlighting due process and traditional interdiction, cautioned the administration that “sometimes you have to figure out who people are before you kill them.” (Paul also said: “The reason we have trials and we don’t automatically assume guilt is, what if we make a mistake?…Off our coast, it isn’t our policy to just blow people up.”)
Among Democrats, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) — like Vance, a Marine Corps veteran — mocked Vance’s military service as he took aim at the Vice President’s statement, writing: “I’m glad that we’re consulting a combat photographer for the best use of the U.S. military, because that’s what JD Vance did.”
[NOTE: Serving under the name James D. Hamel, the future VP “spent his service working in public affairs, writing about Marines and taking photographs of their work, escorting civilian news reporters and speaking about happenings on base,” according to Stars & Stripes. Saying he was “lucky to escape any real fighting,” Vance himself later said he learned in the Marines that “I could speak clearly and confidently with TV cameras shoved in my face.”]
Rep. Seth Moulton: “I’m glad that we’re consulting a combat photographer for his thoughts on the best use of the U.S. military — that’s what JD Vance did. It’s absolutely not the best use of the U.S. military.” pic.twitter.com/eyTEqLCOYp
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 8, 2025
Moulton, whose Marines service includes four tours in Iraq, argued: “It’s absolutely not the best use of the U.S. military because we have a very clear national defense strategy, a strategy that was put in place by multiple administrations including the Trump administration, that designates China as the principle adversary of the United States.”
Moulton added in his Vance response: “So when you’re diverting resources from China including nuclear subs — they have a nuclear sub off of Venezuela — I’m not exactly sure what they intend to do with a nuclear sub against drug traffickers, but clearly they’re not following their own national defense strategy, and that’s just dangerous for the security of the United States. That’s dangerous for deterrence, that’s dangerous for preventing wars. It certainly doesn’t make Trump a harbinger of peace as he tries to proclaim.”