President Donald Trump said U.S. forces "shot out a drug-carrying boat" coming from Venezuela as part of the deployment of troops and warships off the country's coast.
Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said "we just literally shot out a drug-carrying boat." "There were a lot of drugs on that boat. There's more where that came from," the president added. "They came from Venezuela."
BREAKING: Trump:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 2, 2025
We have shot out a boat carrying drugs. pic.twitter.com/R2xnZiKlmk
Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed the attack, detailing that the strike was lethal. "As POTUS just announced moments ago, today the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Carribean against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization," Rubio said in a social media publication.
The attack took place hours after Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said the deployment of U.S. assets off the Venezuelan coast was "not for show" and that Trump has the "legal authority to protect the U.S.'s national security."
Speaking to Noticias Telemundo, the lawmaker said Trump "has a history of defeating terrorist groups" and has declared war on "narco cartels, which are responsible for thousands of American deaths throughout the decades."
Diaz-Balart went on to say that Venezuela is being "controlled by the Cartel de los Soles," and that authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro is "not a head of state but a cartel (leader) who has taken over the country."
Asked whether the Trump administration is considering toppling Maduro, Diaz-Balart said Trump "has the legal authority to protect the U.S.'s national security." "This is not for show," he added.
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