Overview

• President Trump announced the latest attack on Truth Social and released a short video of the explosion, saying intelligence tied the vessel to narcotics trafficking and a designated terrorist network and that the strike occurred in international waters.
• The operation raises the U.S.-reported death toll to at least 27 across the Caribbean campaign since early September, with no U.S. casualties disclosed.
• A memorandum to Congress from the White House and Pentagon states the United States is engaged in a non‑international armed conflict with designated organizations, which the administration says justifies the use of lethal force.
• Two U.S. officials say legislators have not been provided underlying evidence that the targeted boats carried narcotics, and a Senate effort to require prior authorization for future strikes failed.
• Venezuela has mobilized defenses and conducted exercises as the United States maintains a regional deployment that includes multiple warships, a nuclear submarine and F‑35 jets, while international experts and the U.N. question the legality as potential extrajudicial killings.