Overview

• The White House released video purporting to show a U.S. naval operation that sank a vessel said to have departed Venezuela, with no U.S. casualties reported.
• President Donald Trump said the dead were Tren de Aragua “narcoterrorists” and cast the action as part of a stepped‑up counternarcotics campaign.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed a “lethal strike” in international waters and said the boat was operated by a designated narco‑terrorist organization.
• Venezuela mobilized forces and appealed to regional bodies and the U.N., as independent details from the Pentagon remained limited.
• The strike followed a recent U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, and news outlets reported a secret directive authorizing force against cartels labeled as terrorist organizations.