President Trump qualified the deadly US military strikes on the Caribbean Sea “an act of kindness” on Sunday, affirming that the attacks had interrupted drug trafficking via these waters in the United States.
Speaking On board an aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia during an event in honor of the 250th anniversary of the formation of what was going to become the US Navy, the president praised American forces for their effectiveness in the Caribbean military operations.
“We are so good that there are no boats – in fact, even fishing boats,” Trump said, echoing a complaint he made while addressing senior American military officials at Navy Quantico. “No one wants to enter the water anymore.”
The Trump administration said last week to legislators that air strikes, which had been questioned by legal experts, were part of an official “armed conflict” that the United States put against the drug cartels that it qualified terrorist organizations.
There were four attacks by the American army against boats off the coast of Venezuela dating from September 2, which, according to the army, had killed a total of 21 people. The White House did not present the proof that people on board ships were involved in the smuggling of drugs.
The military strikes on boats represent a sudden gap in the standard efforts of the United States government to stop the flow of drugs in the country by water, which generally implies the ban on the police of the alleged drug boats. The Congress has not authorized these strikes, and many legal observers have questioned whether Mr. Trump has the power to order the murder of alleged criminals as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone.
In an interview with Fox News which was broadcast on Sunday, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said that the soldiers had “each necessary authorization” to carry out strikes in the Caribbean. “If you are north of Venezuela and want to track the drugs to the United States, you are a legitimate target,” HegSeth said.
Trump conceded in his remarks on Sunday that “it’s a pretty difficult thing we have done”.
But in an apparent justification of acts, he suggested that the targets were drug addicts who would otherwise be responsible for the death of thousands of Americans, an affirmation he previously made and for which he did not propose any evidence.
“When you think about it this way,” said Trump, “what we are doing is actually an act of kindness.”
His remarks to thousands of sailors, veterans and their families gathered on board the USS George HW Bush, anchored off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, came after having suggested to journalists earlier that his administration examined the next strike phase.
“We are going to stop drug trafficking,” he said, adding that strikes have so far “made a big difference”.
