Topline
President Donald Trump announced the U.S. military carried out another strike on a boat it claimed was carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela Friday, killing all four people on board.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on during an event with President Trump inside the Oval Office on September 15, 2025 in Washington. (Photo by Tom Brenner For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both posted videos of the strike to their respective social media accounts, with Hegseth writing that “four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation.”
Trump said the boat was “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE.”
The strike is at least the fourth on boats in the Caribbean the administration has claimed were carrying drugs headed for the U.S., raising questions about the legality of the attacks, which have now killed a total of 21 people.
The Trump administration declared in a letter to Congress this week the strikes were conducted as part of an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, according to multiple reports.
This is a developing story and will be updated.