The U.S. military announced Monday night that a strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed one "narco-terrorist."
U.S. Southern Command said on X that military personnel conducted a lethal strike at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s direction on a vessel "transiting along known narco-trafficking routes" that was "engaged in narco-trafficking operations."
The Defense Department has repeatedly said targeted vessels are carrying narcotics to the United States.
The United States has conducted more than two dozen strikes against alleged drug boats, killing over 100 people in the Pacific and Caribbean since September, according to the Pentagon.
Speaking to reporters Monday, President Donald Trump would not specify what his “end game” in the region was, but he issued a warning to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"He could do whatever he wants, it’s all right, whatever he wants to do," Trump said. "If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough."
Asked whether the ultimate goal was to force Maduro from power, Trump said: “That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it would be smart for him to do that.”
Trump extended his warning to Venezuela’s neighbors, saying Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist who has drawn Trump’s ire after he loudly opposed the boat strikes, was “no friend of the United States.”
“He’s very bad, very bad guy, and he’s got to watch his a--,” Trump said.
“We love the Colombian people. I love the Colombian people. They’re great people, energetic, smart, great. But their new leader is a troublemaker, and he better watch it,” he added.
