WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has declared the United States is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, according to a memo sent to Congress that provides the administration’s legal justification for a series of deadly maritime strikes in the Caribbean.
The document, delivered to lawmakers this week by the Pentagon’s top attorney, describes cartel members as “unlawful combatants.” U.S. forces have destroyed at least three boats suspected of smuggling narcotics off the coast of Venezuela in the past month, killing at least 17 people. Trump has defended the strikes, saying each vessel carried enough narcotics to kill 25,000 people.
According to the Associated Press and Reuters, the determination signals a dramatic escalation in how the administration frames cartel violence — effectively treating the organizations as non-state armed groups carrying out attacks against the United States. The memo also notes the cartels were previously designated as terrorist organizations.
The decision has sparked alarm among lawmakers and legal experts, who question the administration’s authority to carry out military strikes in place of law enforcement operations. Critics argue the strikes test the limits of presidential power and sidestep Congress’s constitutional role in authorizing the use of military force.
“Every American should be alarmed that their president has decided he can wage secret wars against anyone he calls an enemy,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Legal scholars also challenged the administration’s rationale, noting that the Coast Guard — not the military — is the lead U.S. agency for maritime law enforcement.
The Trump administration has argued the campaign is necessary to deter drug shipments through the Caribbean. But Pentagon officials briefing lawmakers reportedly could not provide a list of designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict or details on how the suspected traffickers were identified before the strikes.
The first strike, carried out Sept. 2, destroyed a speedboat the administration said was operated by Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, killing 11 people. Additional strikes followed in subsequent weeks, leaving lawmakers unsettled over whether the White House is pursuing a broader military campaign without congressional approval.
The White House and the Pentagon declined to comment on the memo or outline how future operations might unfold.
