Trump insists he can strike alleged drug traffickers without Congress declaring war

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/23/politics/trump-drug-traffickers-congress-venezuela

President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that he could continue to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers abroad without Congress first passing an official declaration of war.

“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” he said. “I think we’re just doing to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead.”

Trump’s dismissal came as he suggested his administration would soon begin targeting those deemed as cartel members within countries like Venezuela, in addition to continuing to strike alleged drug boats in international waters.

The lethal strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and east Pacific have unnerved some lawmakers, given the little evidence the administration has presented proving that the targets were so-called narco-terrorists.

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the military has confirmed that each targeted boat is trafficking drugs. Still, he defended the decision to return two survivors of a recent strike as “standard” practice in war.