Trump expands Caribbean strikes against drug cartels

President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated military action against suspected drug-smuggling operations in the Caribbean, announcing another lethal strike off the coast of Venezuela and notifying Congress that the United States is engaged in a noninternational armed conflict with drug cartels. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday he ordered a strike on a small vessel in international waters that he described as trafficking narcotics; Hegseth posted video of the strike and said four men aboard were killed.

The administration has carried out multiple strikes on small boats in recent weeks. Pentagon officials have said those operations destroyed several vessels; in one Pentagon statement, officials said four vessels were destroyed and 17 people were killed. Separate administration announcements and public remarks by senior officials have described additional deaths, and officials have not provided a single, detailed public accounting of the total casualties or the nationalities and identities of those killed.

The White House and Pentagon have framed the campaign as a defensive measure grounded in the administration’s decision to designate certain cartels and...