US kills 11 on 'drug-carrying boat' off Venezuela

President Donald Trump looks at photo on Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy's phone

(Image credit: Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that U.S. naval forces amassed in the southern Caribbean had destroyed a "drug-carrying boat" in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing 11 people. In a social media post with footage of a speedboat erupting in flames, Trump claimed the people killed in the strike were "positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists" transporting illegal drugs to the U.S.

Who said what

The White House "did not immediately explain how the military determined that those aboard the vessel were Tren de Aragua members," The Associated Press said, and the black-and-white video Trump shared "did not show any large or clear stashes of drugs inside the boat."

The strike was an "astonishing departure from traditional drug interdiction efforts," which focused on "seizing drugs and identifying suspects to build a criminal case," The New York Times said. John Feeley, a former U.S. ambassador to Panama, told The Wall Street Journal that the Coast Guard had long led maritime drug interdictions with a mandate "to preserve life," and the U.S. doesn't "just shoot up boats like Netflix likes to pretend."

What next?

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Tuesday that Trump "is very clear that he's going to use the full power of America" to "take on and eradicate these drug cartels" wherever they are and "and wherever they're operating." At a news conference late Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had warned Trump that Rubio "wants to stain your hands with blood" by pushing an invasion and coup.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.