International Updated: Trump says he authorised CIA in Venezuela as Maduro says 'no to regime change'

[CantCucktheTuck]

Now we’re talking.

 

[Snubnoze707]

No more evidence is needed....

 

[Rational Poster]

Reporting coming out today suggests that the boat turned around after noticing they were being tailed by military aircraft before being attacked.

Also, they disabled the boat first then repeatedly struck the vessel while it was disabled.

Seems like straight up murder.

 

[Thrawn33]

Reporting coming out today suggests that the boat turned around after noticing they were being tailed by military aircraft before being attacked.

Also, they disabled the boat first then repeatedly struck the vessel while it was disabled.

Seems like straight up murder.

The one that was hit last week posted earlier in the thread with the video in the tweet?

That video clearly shows that boat was 100% underway and making way under its own power and no way disabled.

 

[Rational Poster]

The one that was hit last week posted earlier in the thread with the video in the tweet?

That video clearly shows that boat was 100% underway and making way under its own power and no way disabled.

It's not the complete footage, allegedly it was edited before release and doesn't show the full context.

And even if that was true, the recent reports suggest it was not heading in the direction of the United States when attacked, it turned around, and was actually nowhere near our national waters, but somewhere in the southern Caribbean.

 

[Thrawn33]

It's not the complete footage, allegedly it was edited before release and doesn't show the full context.

And even if that was true, the recent reports suggest it was not heading in the direction of the United States when attacked, it turned around, and was actually nowhere near our national waters.

Edited? The video clearly shows the wake is still right behind the boat immediately after it got smoked and continued as its momentum slowed.

Forgive my skepticism but you just tried to pass one obviously false report (with no source I might add) got any credible sources on its location, track or course?

 

[Rational Poster]

Forgive my skepticism but you just tried to pass one obviously false report (with no source I might add) got any credible sources on its location, track or course?

I'm on my phone, it's being reported by multiple news outlets.

NYT, Rueters, take your pick.

Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It

The Trump administration has argued that the summary killing of 11 people it accused of running drugs was legal under the laws of war.

www.nytimes.com

"But officials briefed on the strike said the video does not tell the entire story. It does not show the boat turning after the people on board were apparently spooked by an aircraft above them, nor does it show the military making repeated strikes on the vessel even after disabling it, the officials said."

 

[Thrawn33]

I'm on my phone, it's being reported by multiple news outlets.

NYT, Rueters, take your pick.

Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It

The Trump administration has argued that the summary killing of 11 people it accused of running drugs was legal under the laws of war.

www.nytimes.com

"But officials briefed on the strike said the video does not tell the entire story. It does not show the boat turning after the people on board were apparently spooked by an aircraft above them, nor does it show the military making repeated strikes on the vessel even after disabling it, the officials said."

Anonymous officials again? Gonna need more than that.

Second, I already said earlier I'm not comfortable with not giving the option to surrender, but turning and running is not surrendering.

Lastly, follow up strikes to actually sink the vessel after it has been stopped is common practice to prevent it from becoming a hazard to Navigation.

 

[Rational Poster]

Anonymous officials again? Gonna need more than that.

Second, I already said earlier I'm not comfortable with not giving the option to surrender, but turning and running is not surrendering.

Lastly, follow up strikes to actually sink the vessel after it has been stopped is common practice to prevent it from becoming a hazard to Navigation.

Turning and running, and nowhere near the American coast torpedoes the argument the administration made to congress that this boat was some direct and immediate threat to American citizens.

 

[Thrawn33]

Turning and running, and nowhere near the American coast torpedoes the argument the administration made to congress that this boat was some direct and immediate threat to American citizens.

I'm not 100% disagreeing with you on that, but im also suspicious of an "anonymous official"

I also know turning around and running doesn't negate your initial intent...now continued threat could be considered...

Again, I'd feel better if they were given a chance to surrender

 

[Rational Poster]

I'm not 100% disagreeing with you on that, but im also suspicious of an "anonymous official"

I also know turning around and running doesn't negate your initial intent...now continued threat could be considered...

Again, I'd feel better if they were given a chance to surrender

From what I've gathered, the Trump admin has claimed to give warning, but at the same time everything seems to indicate the attack was carried out by aircraft and drones, so I'm unsure how that message to surrender was broadcast or if it was actually received.

They've also provided nothing to support their claims other than the 29 second clip which is edited footage from multiple cameras without the full context or timeline.

The vessel was never a direct and immediate threat to America or its citizens based on the distance from our country alone, no matter what direction it was traveling.

 

[Limbo Pete]

From what I've gathered, the Trump admin has claimed to give warning, but at the same time everything seems to indicate the attack was carried out by aircraft and drones, so I'm unsure how that message to surrender was broadcast or if it was actually received.

They've also provided nothing to support their claims other than the 29 second clip which is edited footage from multiple cameras without the full context or timeline.

The vessel was never a direct and immediate threat to America or its citizens based on the distance from our country alone, no matter what direction it was traveling.

Looking more and more like it was just murder

 

[Thrawn33]

From what I've gathered, the Trump admin has claimed to give warning, but at the same time everything seems to indicate the attack was carried out by aircraft and drones, so I'm unsure how that message to surrender was broadcast or if it was actually received.

They've also provided nothing to support their claims other than the 29 second clip which is edited footage from multiple cameras without the full context or timeline.

The vessel was never a direct and immediate threat to America or its citizens based on the distance from our country alone, no matter what direction it was traveling.

Agree on the message to surrender. That I would like more clarity on. You can reliably signal to stop/heave to/surrender from a helicopter, so yes aircraft method is legit if used. And as I said before, if they did signal to stop, and the smugglers didnt...well, ignore the folks with the guns at your own peril.

 

[avenue94]

Anonymous officials again? Gonna need more than that.

Second, I already said earlier I'm not comfortable with not giving the option to surrender, but turning and running is not surrendering.

Lastly, follow up strikes to actually sink the vessel after it has been stopped is common practice to prevent it from becoming a hazard to Navigation.

Why would civilians not be allowed to turn around and flee in intentional waters?

Is that the standard you want China or American adversaries to use for US vessels or our allies?

 

[Rob Battisti]

Reporting coming out today suggests that the boat turned around after noticing they were being tailed by military aircraft before being attacked.

Also, they disabled the boat first then repeatedly struck the vessel while it was disabled.

Seems like straight up murder.

 

[Rational Poster]

So you were lying the other day, got it.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Trump announces deadly US strike on another alleged Venezuelan drug boat​

President says three people killed in strike against vessel he said was transporting drugs ‘headed to the US’

Hugo Lowell in Washington and Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent

Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States had carried out a strike on a second Venezuelan boat and killed three alleged terrorists he claimed were transporting drugs, expanding his administration’s war against drug cartels and the scope of lethal military force to stop them.

The US president gave few details about the strike, saying in a social media post that the action was on his orders and that it had happened earlier in the morning. The post was accompanied by a video clip showing the boat, which appeared to be stationary, erupting into a fireball.


“The strike occurred while these confirmed narco-terroists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the US,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.


Trump’s announcement of the strike appeared to be worded in a way to suggest there was a valid legal basis for the strike – an issue that became a source of heavy criticism in Washington after the operation against the first alleged Venezuelan drug boat earlier this month, which killed 11 people.

According to people familiar with the matter, the administration briefed Congress last week that the first strike was legal under the president’s article 2 powers because it involved a boat connected to the Tren de Aragua gang, which Trump designated a foreign terrorist organization.

The administration has provided little evidence that the first boat was carrying illegal drugs beyond asserting they had tracked the drugs being loaded on to the boat in order to be distributed in the United States, even if the boat at one point was said to have turned around.

Asked on Sunday about that first strike and claims it was a fishing vessel, Trump said in response to questions from the Guardian: “You saw the bags of white. It’s nonsense. So we knew it before they even left. We knew exactly where that boat, where it came from, where the drugs came from and where it was heading.”

By claiming, for the strike on the second boat, that the drugs were a threat to the United States and asserting that the boat’s crew were “terrorists”, Trump appeared to be preemptively setting the groundwork to make the same article 2 legal claim to order a missile strike against the second boat.

The latest strike comes as the US continues a massive buildup of forces around Venezuela. Over the weekend, five F-35 fighter jets arrived in Puerto Rico to join about half a dozen US navy destroyers already moved to the US territory recently, and support assets the administration said had been deployed to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs.

The US naval forces in the region are comprised of the Iwo Jima amphibious ready group – including the USS San Antonio, USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale carrying 4,500 sailors – and the 22nd marine expeditionary unit, with 2,200 marines, according to administration officials.

Trump has been noncommittal about conducting military operations inside Venezuela against the drug cartels or the government, and deflected questions about the legality of the strikes on Sunday night. “What’s illegal are the drugs that were on the boat,” he told the Guardian.

On Monday evening, Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator, said in a post on social media that “I’m drafting a resolution and forcing a vote to reclaim Congress’s power to declare war.” He said: “These lawless killings are just putting us at risk” and could prompt another country to target US forces without proper justification.

For his part, from Caracas, the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro said hours before Trump announced the second strike that his country would defend itself against foreign aggression as he lashed out at US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

“[He is] the Lord of Death and War and Hatred,” Maduro said at a news conference of Rubio, who has played an outsize role in the administration’s Venezuela operations as both the top US diplomat and Trump’s national security adviser.

Observers have downplayed the likelihood of a US military intervention on Venezuelan soil. Many believe the US pressure campaign is partly designed to trigger defections that might help bring down Maduro’s administration and partly political theatre for a domestic audience.

Still, given Trump’s unpredictable nature, members of Maduro’s regime and officials in other South American countries have watched the situation anxiously.

“In Venezuela, the governing Chavistas have gone from disbelief to surprise, from surprise to indignation, and from indignation to horror” over Trump’s behaviour, the Spanish newspaper El País reported on Monday.

The newspaper said Maduro’s inner circle had initially interpreted the US naval deployment as a Trumpian negotiating tactic. “As the days passed, however, they have become convinced that Washington is preparing for an invasion,” El País reported.

“All that’s left is for them to shoot at the buildings we’re sitting in, damn it,” one senior official close to Maduro was quoted as saying.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/15/trump-strike-venezuela-drug-cartel-vessel

 

[avenue94]

You know you're probably overstepping when even John Yoo thinks Trumo is acting unlawfully.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/16/trump-gop-officials-strikes-venezuela-00567212

 

[LeonardoBjj]

You know you're probably overstepping when even John Yoo thinks Trumo is acting unlawfully.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/16/trump-gop-officials-strikes-venezuela-00567212

- Now they're targeting Colombia

 

[Rational Poster]

Oh by the way, the Trump admin has sunk two more vessels and killed more people in international waters with even less explanation this week.