President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military on Monday conducted its second missile strike on a Venezuelan boat allegedly carrying drugs headed for the U.S., killing three men on board.
“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S.” Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday afternoon, along with a video purporting to show the strike.
“These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests,” he added.
“BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU!”
President Trump has made it clear: Narcoterrorists will no longer be allowed to traffic poison into the United States of America. https://t.co/mFYraQQ02k pic.twitter.com/bk30Er7EPi
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 15, 2025
Trump said three “male terrorists” were killed in the strike and no U.S. soldiers were harmed.
This is the second strike of its kind. Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced that 11 people were killed in a “lethal strike” against “a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Trump also shared a video of that incident showing a small speedboat cruising through open water before a large explosion incinerated the vessel.
In February the administration declared the Venezuelan-originating gang Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization in an effort to crack down on narcotics trafficking. Venezuela’s interior minister, however, said on Thursday that none of the 11 people killed in the Sept. 2 strike were connected to Tren de Aragua.
The Department of Defense has deployed at least eight warships to the Caribbean in the last month, escalating tensions between Venezuela and the United States. The country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, suggested that he was prepared for an “armed fight” should Trump launch an attack on Venezuela.
“Mr. President, Donald Trump,” he said last week, “watch out, because Mr. Rubio wants to stain your hands with blood.”
Trump, when asked about the possibility of strikes on the mainland of Venezuela, has repeatedly declined to rule it out, saying, “Well, we’ll see what happens.”
Trump has long sought to take action against Maduro, who the administration accuses of having gang ties. During Trump’s first term, the U.S. government indicted Maduro on narcotics trafficking charges.
“The president is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NOTUS following Trump’s first boat strike.
“The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. It is a narco-terror cartel,” she added.
Venezuelan officials have denied these claims, and said that Trump’s talk of drugs is a pretext to overthrow the country’s left-wing government.
The saber-rattling has garnered criticism from across the political spectrum — including from the libertarian-minded Sen. Rand Paul. The Kentucky Republican joined a chorus of Democratic criticism of the administration’s first strike, arguing the president’s actions may be violating international law.
In particular, Paul sparred with JD Vance over the strike, calling the vice president’s response “despicable and thoughtless.”
“JD ‘I don’t give a shit’ Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the ‘highest and best use of the military,’” Paul, who leads the Senate Homeland Security Committee, wrote in a post on X. “What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”