Since September, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have ordered controversial military strikes against boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.The Trump administration has alleged with little evidence that the boats were smuggling drugs from Venezuela and Colombia.The campaign so far has killed more than 80 alleged drug runners, according to officials.President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attend a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, October 9, 2025.Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersVenezuelan and Colombian leaders have refuted the administration's grounds for the attacks and slammed Trump for his military action.Legality of US military activity around Venezuela is 'questionable,' Sen.
Mark Kelly saysOn Capitol Hill, some leaders from both parties have questioned the legality of the strikes and whether the president has the constitutional power to authorize them.Here is a timeline of the operation:Sept.2, 2025 Trump posts video on his social media platform of what he says is a strike on a boat carrying drugs to the U.S.
The president says the 11 "Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists" aboard were killed and that they were operating under the control of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.Maduro denies the allegations.Sept.15, 2025: Trump announces a second strike reportedly kills three people in the Caribbean.The president says in a social media post there were "3 male terrorists killed in action." President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attend a roundtable with the Homeland Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, October 23, 2025.Will Oliver/EPA/ShutterstockWhen asked by reporters about the strike, Trump says the incident occurred in international waters and insisted "we have proof" that the boat was carrying drugs because of the cargo in the ocean."Big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place," he says. Sept.
19, 2025: Three people are killed i...