Trump’s War on the Cartels

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the President of the United States has determined that narco-terrorist organizations represent a direct threat to the country’s national security. He explained that these are not mere criminals or “stockbrokers selling drugs on the side,” but organizations structured like corporations, specialized in trafficking deadly drugs into the United States. According to Rubio, these organizations pose an immediate threat, and that is why the president has formally designated them as narco-terrorist organizations.

Rubio emphasized that if a boat loaded with cocaine or fentanyl is heading to the United States, it constitutes an imminent threat. In that context, the president, in his role as Commander-in-Chief, has the legal authority to act under urgent circumstances to eliminate such threats. He justified the recent military attack carried out in international waters against a vessel linked to the Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua, which Washington has already designated as a foreign terrorist group. Eleven people were killed in that operation. Rubio stressed that this would not be an isolated event and that more similar actions would follow, since the United States will no longer sit back and watch cartels sail through the Caribbean “as if they were cruise ships.”

These actions are part of a broader military campaign driven by the Trump administration, aimed at dismantling cartels such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel. The strategy marks a drastic shift from previous policies, moving from interdiction and arrests to direct military offensives to deter future drug trafficking operations.

In February, President Trump issued an executive order designating several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This decision empowers the government to use both military and intelligence tools against them, under laws such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Alien Enemies Act. With this legal framework, the White House justifies the offensive as a necessary step to protect the United States from a threat that, according to Rubio, “will no longer be tolerated.”

In the Secretary of State’s own words: “I know that many presidents have talked about doing it. This president is not someone who only talks, he is someone who acts — and he will do it.”

Video Source: C-SPAN