A group of bipartisan lawmakers is demanding answers from the Trump administration as to the ongoing strikes against drug-trafficking boats.
The lawmakers, Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jason Crow (D-CO), and Mike Turner (R-OH), have requested that the administration clarify the purpose of the strikes.
“In a notification to Congress dated September 15, 2025, your administration provided a justification for the use of lethal military force, and on October 30, 2025, representatives briefed members of the House Committee on Armed Services on the strikes,” the lawmakers wrote. “We remain committed to public safety and have questions about the strategy and legal status of these strikes.”
The letter called for information as to why the Trump administration has employed “lethal strikes” instead of “law enforcement-based interdiction and arrest operations,” as well as requesting the administration provide evidence that “confirms that those killed were cartel operatives, rather than coerced, deceived, or trafficked civilians.”
The lawmakers noted that they “strongly support the effort to reduce the flow of narcotics into this country,” emphasizing that the effort “must be done within the legal, moral, and ethical framework that sets us apart from our adversaries.”
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado honored President Trump for taking action against the narco boats. Speaking during the America Business Forum, she said, “The strategy of President Trump towards this criminal narco-terrorist structure is absolutely correct, because Nicolás Maduro is not a legitimate head of state, he is the head of this narco-terrorist structure that has declared war on the Venezuelan people and the two democratic nations in the region.”
“These criminal structures sustain themselves under the money that comes from drug trafficking and you need to cut those cash flows, and that’s precisely what President Trump is doing to protect millions of lives of American citizens, Latin American citizens and certainly Venezuelan citizens,” Machado added.
