President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. forces carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility, killing three people aboard.
In his Truth Social post, he described the target as “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization” and accused it of narcotrafficking toward the United States. He said that the strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel, which was in international waters. No U.S. personnel were harmed, he also added in the post.
Trump’s statement didn’t disclose where the attack happened or who he said was engaged. The White House and Pentagon didn’t give any more information right away, and at the time of writing, there was no independent confirmation from U.S. Southern Command. The post was the latest in a string of recent operations against vessels that were thought to be carrying drugs, according to news outlets.
The announcement marks at least the third such strike this month. Earlier operations targeted vessels in or near international waters in the Caribbean, including ones believed to have departed Venezuela, as the administration has stepped up maritime interdiction against suspected narcotrafficking networks.
Trump’s message referred to the “Secretary of War” ordering the action. Earlier this month, the administration authorized use of “Secretary of War” as a secondary title for the secretary of defense in official communications, a change framed by the White House as a restoration of historic nomenclature.
Context: In a Sept. 2 operation, U.S. officials said a precision strike destroyed a suspected drug-running vessel, with fatalities reported aboard, underscoring an expanded military role in maritime counter-narcotics missions across SOUTHCOM’s region. Friday’s statement suggests that posture is continuing.
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