Are Trump’s Lethal Attacks on Drug Boats Legal?

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the past month, the Trump administration has ordered a trio of military attacks against boats suspected to be transporting drugs from South America to the U.S. However, little information has been released about the people who were killed and whether there were actually any drugs aboard. And some Pentagon officials have raised concerns about the legality of these strikes. WSJ national security reporter Vera Bergengruen and legal correspondent Jess Bravin explore how Washington’s approach to combating drug smuggling has changed and the potential pitfalls of these strikes. Caitlin McCabe hosts. Further Reading Trump Orders Pentagon to Deploy Three Warships Against Latin American Drug Cartels Suspected Venezuela Drug Boat Had Turned Around Before U.S. Strike U.S. Strikes Second Alleged Drug Boat From Venezuela, Trump Says Trump Says He Ordered Another Strike on an Alleged Drug Boat Exclusive | Pentagon Lawyers Raise Concerns Over Trump’s Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats Trump Invokes Post-9/11 Playbook in Attacks on Drug Cartels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:18.4	Hey, what's news listeners. It's Sunday, September 28th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for the Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's happening in our world.
0:35.2	On the show this week, we're taking a look at the Trump administration's use of military
0:39.5	force on boats in international waters, which is starting to happen with more frequency.
0:45.0	There's one big problem, though. Some officials aren't so sure that the strikes are even legal
0:49.7	or whether the people targeted are actually smuggling narcotics at all.
0:54.4	Stay tuned as we explore that big question and more.
1:06.5	About eight months ago, on the same day he was sworn into office,
1:10.7	President Trump signed an executive order that set the stage for him to designate international cartels as terrorist organizations.
1:17.8	Since then, the White House has ratcheted up its pressure against these drug groups, culminating in a trio of lethal military strikes against boats this month that have killed more than a dozen people.
1:28.9	And the Trump administration has indicated it doesn't intend to pump the brakes on such
1:33.1	attacks anytime soon. But what is the Trump administration's end goal here? Joining me now is
1:39.2	Vera Bergen-Gruin, who covers national security for the journal and has been covering these boat strikes
1:43.6	since they
1:44.2	began. Vera, the U.S. has long been cracking down on drug trafficking from South America.
1:50.0	Can you update us on how those priorities have changed since Trump took office in January?
1:55.0	President Trump came into office, making fairly clear that he was going to be very focused on the
1:59.9	Western Hemisphere and very focused specifically on combating drug trafficking, which was one of his main priorities
2:05.5	during the campaign. And one of the very first things he did when he got into the White House again
2:10.0	was designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations or FTOs. What that means is you can
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