Trump says U.S. struck drug boat from Venezuela

President Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. has carried out a strike in the southern Caribbean Sea against a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela.

- By AAMER MADHANI AND REGINA GARCIA CANO.

CREW MEMBERS of the U.S. Navy warship USS Sampson are seen in Panama City on Tuesday.

The president offered scant details on the operation.

“When you leave the room, you'll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally, shot a boat — a drug-carrying boat,” Trump told reporters during an unrelated Oval Office event. He added there were “a lot of drugs” on the vessel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that the vessel was being operated by a “designated narco-terrorist organization.” The secretary described the operation asa lethal strike.

Rubio addressed the strike on Tuesday shortly before he was scheduled to depart for Mexico and Ecuador for talks on drug cartels, security, tariffs and more.