Trump says US has ‘knocked off’ three boats from Venezuela
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US President Donald Trump was speaking to reporters at the White House, before heading to the United Kingdom for a state visit.
PHOTO: ERIC LEE/NYTIMES
Follow topic:
- Donald Trump said the US "knocked off" three Venezuelan boats, following two confirmed deadly strikes on alleged "narco-terrorists" in the Caribbean.
- The US government claims it has evidence the people killed were drug traffickers, but has released no details to back up these claims.
- These attacks occur amid tensions in the Caribbean, where the US accuses Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro of drug cartel leadership.
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Sept 16 said his country had “knocked off” three boats in total from Venezuela, a day after he confirmed a second deadly US strike
“We knocked off actually three boats not two, but you saw two,” he told reporters at the White House, before heading to the United Kingdom for a state visit.
He did not elaborate on what had happened with the third boat, or if any more people had been killed.
On the evening of Sept 15, he announced that US forces had struck a second boat in international waters, killing three people he described as “narco-terrorists”.
Mr Trump’s administration has faced questions over the legality of such strikes since its first attack
The US government has released videos of the two previously known strikes and claims it has irrefutable evidence the people killed were traffickers seeking to ship deadly drugs to the United States.
It has not, however, provided details to back up those claims, while drug trafficking itself is not a capital offence under US law.
The attacks also comes amid spiralling tensions in the Caribbean as a large US naval build-up
The United States accuses Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro of heading a cocaine trafficking cartel and recently doubled its bounty for his capture to US$50 million (S$63 million).
Much of the international community rejected Mr Maduro’s July 2024 re-election, with the opposition claiming widespread fraud.
“Stop sending drugs into the United States,” Mr Trump said, in response to a reporter who asked him what message he wanted to send to Venezuelan President Maduro. AFP
