President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the U.S. military conducted a deadly strike against a boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing 11 people he claimed were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The president said the vessel was carrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States.
The strike happened in international waters in the southern Caribbean, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as per The Post. Trump shared a blurry video on social media showing what appeared to be a small boat exploding, but the footage did not clearly show drugs or prove the identities of those on board.
The Trump administration offered no concrete evidence that the 11 people killed were actually drug dealers or gang members. As The New York Times reported, “Pentagon officials were still working Wednesday on what legal authority they would tell the public was used to back up the extraordinary strike in international waters.” The White House provided no hard evidence that the dead were members of Tren de Aragua, despite Trump’s claims.
Strike comes amid rising tensions with Venezuela
The deadly attack occurred just days after the U.S. deployed more than 4,500 sailors and Marines along with seven warships to the Caribbean region. The Trump administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of leading a drug cartel and placed a $50 million bounty on his head.
Maduro responded by calling up 4.5 million militia members and declaring “maximum preparedness” for his country. He described the U.S. military buildup as “an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.” The Venezuelan leader warned that concerns about Trump’s declining mental health could lead to dangerous military actions.
Trump bombed a boat.
— TizzyWoman
No trial. No evidence presented. No nothing. Just a plain old assassination of 11 people.
If you’re not alarmed, rethink your core values.
Thanks for the truth, MatthewCookeOfficial (IG).#DemsUnited pic.twitter.com/FczItmWcMq
~ Keep moving forward (@tizzywoman) September 4, 2025
Rubio told reporters in Mexico City that U.S. forces could have stopped the boat but Trump chose to destroy it instead to send a message. “What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” Rubio said. He promised that similar strikes would “happen again.”
The secretary of state claimed the boat was heading to Trinidad and Tobago with drugs likely bound for the United States. However, experts questioned both the legality of the strike and the evidence provided. Constitutional law expert Bruce Fein told Al Jazeera that the military attack was “unconstitutional” because it lacked proper congressional authorization.
Venezuela’s Communications Minister Freddy Nanez suggested the video was created using artificial intelligence, calling it an “almost cartoonish animation, rather than a realistic depiction of an explosion.” The Venezuelan government has consistently denied Trump’s allegations about state involvement in drug trafficking.
This military action represents a significant shift from traditional U.S. drug interdiction methods, which typically involve stopping vessels and arresting suspects rather than destroying them. The strike raises questions about Trump’s broader approach to Latin America and whether the administration will take similar actions against other countries in the region, as experts warn about potential illegal use of military forces for domestic purposes.
