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President Donald Trump shared dramatic video Tuesday of a U.S. military strike that blew apart a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean, leaving nearly a dozen suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) narco-terrorists dead.
“Over the last few minutes, [we] literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat,” Trump said during a news conference in the Oval Office. “A lot of drugs in that boat. And you’ll be seeing that, and you’ll be reading about that. It just happened moments ago.”
The president later shared a video of the strike on Truth Social, confirming the blast occurred in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility, while the terrorists were in international waters transporting illegal narcotics to the U.S.
“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action,” Trump wrote in the post. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!”
Video footage showed the vessel shortly before it was destroyed. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
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Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., added the vessel belonged to the Cartel of the Suns.
“This is going swimmingly,” Gimenez wrote in an X post. “We continue.”
Ahead of his departure to Mexico City, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters cocaine and fentanyl shipped from Venezuela often end up in Puerto Rico and then make their way to the U.S.
“The President has been very clear that he’s going to use the full power of America and the full might of the United States to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they’re operating from and no matter how long they’ve been able to act with impunity,” Rubio said. “Those days are over.”
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday, in Washington, D.C., as Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., listens. During the news conference, Trump announced that the U.S. military had “shot out” a drug boat from Venezuela in the southern Caribbean. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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Trump said many drug boats are coming out of Venezuela, claiming terrorists are acting under the control of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“TdA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” he wrote in the X post.
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has yet to publicly comment on the strike. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Maduro has not yet publicly commented on the strike.
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Fox News’ Emily Sacia contributed to this report.