A screenshot from the video US President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social on September 2, 2025, showing a US military strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. Screenshot: @realDonaldTrump/Truth Social.
United States President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his country’s military forces have attacked a total of three allegedly drug-laden vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
Quoted by media before departing for a state visit to the United Kingdom, Trump told reporters at the White House that “we knocked off, actually, three boats — not two, but you saw two,” without giving details.
This Monday, the US president reported that Southern Command had carried out an attack on a second vessel leaving Venezuela, killing three “extremely violent” individuals he labeled “narcoterrorists.”
The first attack was reportedly carried out in early September, and as proof of this, President Trump released a video announcing that the vessel with eleven people on board had been neutralized.
The incident has drawn widespread criticism, as the US has granted itself the authority to carry out such actions in violation of international law, under the guise of combating drug trafficking.
Washington Projects Its Drug Problem Onto Latin America: Narco-State Myth Used to Attack Venezuela
Venezuelan authorities have rejected this justification, asserting the operations are part of a US maneuver to legitimize armed aggression against Venezuela, with the aim of regime change and seizing the country’s natural resources.
President Nicolás Maduro recalled this Monday that the United States has been threatening Venezuela for five weeks with missile boats, nuclear submarines, and potential bombing or invasion.
In this regard, he emphasized that Venezuela is a country free of drug cultivation and has distinguished itself in the regional fight against drug trafficking, and asserted that the US military deployment in the Caribbean has other objectives.
Trump’s statement has raised questions regarding the footage initially released of the first reported strike, prompting speculation it may have depicted more than one vessel, given the death toll and number of individuals visible, as well as controversy surrounding the manipulation of the video.
(Ăšltimas Noticias) by MarĂa Milagros Sánchez with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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