President Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. military would “very soon” carry out missile strikes on land against drug traffickers in some South American countries as he plans to expand operations that so far have focused on smugglers’ boats in the Caribbean Sea.
During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Mr. Trump said his policy was “taking those son of a bitches out” and would continue to do so despite questions from Democrats and some Republicans about the legality of the boat strikes.
Some lawmakers have gone so far as to accuse Mr. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of war crimes after a second military strike on an alleged drug boat in September reportedly killed survivors of the first strike.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth were unapologetic Tuesday. They hailed the strikes as a success that has resulted in a 91% reduction in the amount of drugs coming into the U.S. by sea.
The U.S. strikes have destroyed 22 vessels and killed 83 people.
The president made it clear that he wasn’t satisfied with just striking boats off the coast of Venezuela. He said he could soon take military action against Venezuela and even expand the strikes to other South American countries.
SEE ALSO: Trump touts 91% drop in drug boat trafficking; admin defends deadly strikes
“We’re going to start doing those strikes on land too,” Mr. Trump said. “The land is much easier, much easier, and we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live, and we are going to start doing that very soon.”
Although Mr. Trump didn’t offer much in the way of specifics, he said cocaine manufacturing plants likely would be the targets of those strikes.
Mr. Trump has previously said he wants to widen U.S. military attacks against the drug cartels that have fueled the deadly domestic opioid crisis. He also has talked about expanding military operations in Venezuela as part of a broader campaign to pressure a regime change against President Nicolas Maduro, sparking fears that the U.S. could become engaged in armed conflict with Venezuela.
On Tuesday, he went further. He said he could order strikes on any nation producing drugs that reach the U.S. and highlighted Colombia as a potential target.
“Anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack, not necessarily just Venezuela,” he said. “I hear Colombia is making cocaine. They have cocaine manufacturing plants, and they sell us cocaine.”
The president is considering military action against Venezuela as part of his administration’s campaign against drug trafficking. During a call over the weekend with Mr. Maduro, Mr. Trump reportedly told him to resign and leave or else.
Mr. Trump reportedly rejected Mr. Maduro’s demands that he be allowed to maintain control of the Venezuelan military if he allows free elections and is given amnesty for his crimes. The White House has accused Mr. Maduro of drug trafficking, a claim the Venezuelan leader has denied.
Mr. Trump is doubling down on the strikes as scrutiny grows over Mr. Hegseth’s role in the follow-up strike on the alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2. Lawmakers opened investigations after a report that Mr. Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody” on the boat, which some say is a violation of rules governing armed conflict.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger F. Wicker, Mississippi Republican, promised to conduct oversight on the military action.
The president distanced himself from the secondary strike, which reportedly killed two survivors clinging to wreckage.
Mr. Trump said he “didn’t know anything” and “still hasn’t gotten a lot of information” about it.
“I don’t know anything about people. I wasn’t involved in it,” he said.
Mr. Hegseth said he watched a video feed of the initial strike in real time but could not determine whether any survivors were in the water. He said the vessel “exploded in fire, smoke,” making it impossible to view. He said he “didn’t stick around” for the remainder of the mission, but the admiral in charge “made the right call” in ordering the second hit, which Mr. Hegseth said he “had the complete authority to do.”
The embattled defense secretary said the strikes have led to a massive reduction in drug boat trafficking, stopping the flow of narcotics and saving American lives.
“It’s hard to find boats to strike right now, which is the entire point, right? Deterrence has to matter, not arrest and hand over and then do it again, the rinse-and-repeat approach of previous administrations,” Mr. Hegseth said.
He insisted that the drug strikes would continue despite the outrage on Capitol Hill because Mr. Trump is “taking the gloves off.”
“We’ve only just begun striking narco boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they’ve been poisoning the American people,” Mr. Hegseth said. “And Joe Biden tried to approach it with kid gloves, allowed drugs to come across the border.”
In recent months, Mr. Trump has intensified U.S. military presence in the region, ramping up pressure on Venezuela. He said Venezuela’s airspace should be considered closed.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, a major aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean last month, increasing the number of U.S. military forces in the region that has not been seen for decades.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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