AI-Summary – News For Tomorrow
President Trump announced the U.S. military conducted a third fatal strike this month on a vessel allegedly smuggling drugs. The strike, which killed three, targeted a vessel Trump claimed was linked to a designated terrorist organization involved in narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area. Trump stated intelligence confirmed the vessel was transporting narcotics destined to harm Americans. These strikes, following two similar incidents earlier in September, mark a significant shift in U.S. strategy against drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, involving increased maritime presence. Venezuelan President Maduro has speculated these actions may be part of a plan to overthrow him.
News summary provided by Gemini AI.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday the U.S. military has carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug-smuggling vessel this month.
Trump in a social media posting said the strike killed three and was carried out against a vessel “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”
The Pentagon deferred questions about the strike to the White House, which did not respond to a request for clarity about the origins of the vessel.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage enroute to poison Americans,” Trump said in the post.
“It was at this moment, the narcoterrorists knew they screwed up,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said on X in a posting with the video.
Trump on Monday announced the U.S. military had carried out a strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela. That strike also killed three on board.
That followed a Sept. 2 military strike on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat that killed 11. Trump claimed the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which was listed by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.
The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.
The strikes follow a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean.
It marks a dramatic shift in how the U.S. is willing to combat drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
In Venezuela, some are speculating whether the strikes are part of a plan to try to topple President Nicolás Maduro, a notion that the Venezuelan leader has echoed.
Maduro claimed after the first strike that a U.S. video released by Trump was created with artificial intelligence and that a boat of that size cannot venture into the high seas.
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AP writers Regina Garcia Cano in Güiria, Venezuela, and Konstatin Toropin contributed reporting.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
