According to a New York Post report, the Trump administration told Congress on Wednesday that the U.S. is now engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels.
A Pentagon notice to lawmakers cited “hostile acts” against Americans and allied nations as the basis for the determination, according to reports from the New York Times and Associated Press.
President Trump highlighted the escalation during a speech Monday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, boasting that U.S. airstrikes destroyed four Venezuelan drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.
“If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence,” Trump said, referencing the cocaine- and fentanyl-laden ships. “That’s the only language they really understand. That’s why you don’t see any more boats on the ocean.”
Trump just called out Nicolás Maduro’s drug trafficking regime…with the Venezuelan delegates sitting right in front of him, forced to listen.
Then he dropped the line that made the room go still:
“We will blow you out of existence.”
They did not like it one bit.
“We’ve… pic.twitter.com/yHMjP1bLgs
— Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) September 23, 2025
The State Department has also labeled several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua prison gang.
More over at The New York Post:
Trump admin says US engaged in ‘armed conflict’ with drug smugglers after 4 boat strikes https://t.co/z2wmVKa7so pic.twitter.com/VXta0NonPn
— New York Post (@nypost) October 2, 2025