Overview

• President Donald Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the strike in international waters, and he released a short video showing the boat exploding.
• The action marks at least the fifth lethal strike since early September, with the publicly acknowledged death toll rising to about 27.
• The White House has told Congress it is treating targeted smugglers as unlawful combatants in a non‑international armed conflict with designated terrorist organizations.
• A Senate bid to curb the operations failed, yet lawmakers from both parties continue to demand legal justifications and underlying intelligence that officials have not publicly provided.
• Venezuelan leaders denounced the strikes as aggression, as a larger U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean heightens regional tensions.