Trump says U.S. strikes narcotics vessel in waters, three killed

President Donald Trump announced Friday that U.S. military forces carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in international waters that he said was trafficking illicit narcotics, killing three people, in what he described as part of an intensified campaign against narcoterrorists in the Caribbean and Latin America. Trump said the strike was ordered by him and carried out in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility; he posted the claim and an accompanying video on his social media platform, saying intelligence showed the boat was transiting a known drug route "en route to poison Americans."

Trump said he directed "the Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth to authorize the operation. The administration has released video footage of the attack but has provided few additional operational details, including the exact location and the branch of the military that conducted the strike. Officials said no U.S. forces were harmed. The president characterized the individuals killed as "narcoterrorists" and wrote in his post, "STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA, AND COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS."

The announcement marks what the president has...