Overview

• Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Tuesday operation in international waters and released a brief video showing the strike.
• It is the fifth acknowledged maritime attack since Sept. 2, bringing reported deaths across the strikes to at least 27.
• The administration has notified Congress it views the operations as a non‑international armed conflict with designated terrorist cartels governed by the law of armed conflict.
• Members of both parties are pressing for the underlying intelligence, and a Senate war powers measure to curb the strikes failed last week.
• Venezuelan officials condemned the actions as attacks on civilians as U.S. naval and air assets remain deployed in the southern Caribbean.