Overview

• The Pentagon said the operation occurred in international waters near Venezuela and that no U.S. forces were injured.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting on President Donald Trump’s orders, asserted the boat carried substantial narcotics and was affiliated with designated terrorist organizations, and he posted strike video online.
• The Pentagon has not publicly provided identities of the deceased or additional forensic evidence, directing inquiries to Hegseth’s statement.
• The strike is at least the fourth such lethal action since early September, with press tallies citing roughly 21 fatalities across the recent operations.
• Venezuela condemned the actions and escalated defensive measures, as lawmakers and legal experts in the United States question the administration’s wartime framing and authority for using lethal force at sea.