Overview

• Officials cited by new reporting say the targeted speedboat was surveilled, initially disabled, then hit multiple times after it turned, with survivors killed in a subsequent strike.
• Sources, including Sen. Rand Paul, say drones carried out the attack, and multiple accounts point to possible Special Operations Command involvement.
• President Donald Trump authorized the operation and posted an edited clip of the blast, saying 11 “narcoterrorists” were killed, while offering no public evidence.
• The Pentagon defended the action as a message to drug traffickers, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. chose to destroy the vessel rather than interdict it.
• A small group of congressional staffers received classified briefings without lawmakers present, and legal experts questioned whether the killings violate domestic and international law.