Date: October 23, 2025
Source: New York Times
URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/us/politics/trump-military-authorization-cartel-strikes.html
New York Times: “President Trump said on Thursday that he would bypass Congress rather than seek its approval to carry out military strikes against drug cartels that traffic narcotics to the United States, even as he vowed to expand the operation from attacks at sea to targets on land.
“‘I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war, Mr. Trump told reporters of his campaign of deadly strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea near Colombia and Venezuela. ‘I think we are going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We are going to kill them, you know? They are going to be, like, dead.’”
Though he repeatedly referred to the military operation targeting drug trafficking as a “war,” Mr. Trump said he would not seek any formal approval from lawmakers to continue striking boats or expand it to include airstrikes against countries like Venezuela, where he says the cartels originate.