Democrats slam Trump’s boat strikes off South America as ‘illegal’ and ‘reckless’

The boat skimmed across the sea on the morning of Sept. 2, leaving ribbons of foam in its wake. Moments later, after a sudden flash of light, it erupted in flames.

It marked the opening salvo in a series of U.S. airstrikes against alleged drug smugglers off the coast of South America. In the weeks since, eight more vessels have been destroyed, killing at least 37 people.

Now — with the counter-trafficking crusade poised to continue — some members of Congress are sounding alarm bells.

In interviews with McClatchy News, seven Democratic lawmakers expressed serious concerns about the lethal operations, with some accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of perpetrating extrajudicial killings while leaving Congress uninformed.

They also warned the attacks — many of which occurred near Venezuela, where U.S. naval forces and intelligence assets have expanded operations — risk dragging a conflict-weary nation into yet another foreign war.

“Trump appears hell-bent on carrying out these unconstitutional and unlawful military strikes” while continuing “to flirt with regime change,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley told McClatchy News.

The White House, meanwhile, defended the new military offensive, stating that Trump is simply following through on his promises to combat cartels and, in doing so, is providing more transparency than past presidents.

Lack of information

A chief concern among Democratic lawmakers is that the White House has kept Congress — and the public — in the dark and grasping for details about recent military actions.

The administration is “abjectly failing to provide essential facts the American people deserve,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal told McClatchy News. “It appears to be concealing — if in fact it knows — who’s financing and operating the boats, what they’re actually carrying, where they’re headed, and other key information.”

Without this information, Congress cannot conduct oversight, “which is critical in light of the serious risks raised by these seemingly reckless strikes,” Blumenthal said.

Administration officials have said the attacks — seven of which took place in the Caribbean and two in the Pacific — targeted men ferrying drugs from Venezuela toward the U.S.

“These are not simply drug runners — these are narco-terrorists bringing death and destruction to our cities,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an Oct. 22 post on X, which equated the alleged traffickers with Al Qaeda.

The White House previously designated multiple Latin American criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.

“These strikes will continue, day after day,” Hegseth added.

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth told McClatchy News that “no evidence” has been provided indicating the vessels were hostile or armed.

“These attacks raise so many troubling questions,” she said, one being: “Were there civilians on board?”

A recent report suggests this concern may be well-founded. In mid-October, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said a U.S. strike killed a poor Colombian fisherman, whose family denied he was a drug trafficker, according to The Guardian.

In response to the Democratic lawmakers’ comments, a White House spokesperson said the Republican president is doing exactly what he pledged to do on the campaign trail.

“Trump promised to take on the cartels — and he has taken unprecedented action to stop the scourge of narcoterrorism that has resulted in the needless deaths of innocent Americans,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told McClatchy News. “All of these decisive strikes have been against designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores.”

A senior administration official also told McClatchy News that, in the past month, the White House has provided Congress with seven classified briefings and is working with lawmakers to answer outstanding questions.

Unlawful action

Lawmakers also underscored the questionable legality of Trump’s military strikes, noting they were undertaken without congressional consent.

“The administration’s failure to seek congressional authorization for these strikes raises serious legal concerns,” California Rep. Ami Bera told McClatchy News.

Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson told McClatchy News that, while she opposes President Nicolas Maduro’s “dictatorial grip on Venezuela…the administration needs to come to Congress before dropping bombs on anyone.”

The U.S. Constitution assigns Congress — not the president — the exclusive authority to declare war, a power it has not exercised since 1942. Congress also maintains the ability to provide Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs), which grant the president authority to take limited military action.

Still, the commander-in-chief can authorize military force without Congress, but only in response to an imminent threat. Past presidents have frequently used this power, a precedent acknowledged by the White House.

“From 2009 to 2015, President Obama conducted over 500 drone strikes, killing over 3,700 people, some of which were United States citizens, without offering any legal justification to Congress,” a senior administration official said.

With Congress once again sidelined, some lawmakers have moved to claw back their constitutional authority.

On Oct. 17, Sens. Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff and Rand Paul introduced a war powers resolution that would block unauthorized U.S. military action against Venezuela. Paul, a Kentucky Republican, stands out as one of the few GOP voices openly criticizing Trump’s strikes.

In a recent post on X, Paul said the targeted boats posed no danger to the U.S. and described the airstrikes on them as a form of “summary execution.”

Vermont Sen. Pete Welch signaled his support for the bipartisan war powers resolution, which will soon face a vote. He told McClatchy News, “The Constitution is clear: if the President wants to declare war on terrorists, he needs to ask Congress to authorize it.”

Multiple lawmakers also stressed that they support cracking down on illicit drug trafficking, including by strengthening the Coast Guard. But suspects, they said, should face prosecution, not sudden death.

U.N. officials and human rights groups have also characterized the U.S. military’s offensive in South America as illegal under international law. Amnesty International called it “murder — plain and simple.”

‘Sleepwalking into a new war’

The prospect of a regime change war in Venezuela — which some officials argue may be the administration’s true aim — has alarmed several Democratic members of Congress.

Recent developments suggest the U.S. could be moving in that direction.

In addition to the recent strikes near the South American nation, the U.S. military has dramatically ramped up its presence in the region, deploying destroyers, aircraft and roughly 10,000 troops.

In mid-October, Trump also authorized the CIA to undertake clandestine missions inside Venezuela and discussed carrying out “land” operations. Describing his reasoning, he cited Venezuelan migrants and drugs coming to the U.S. He also previously labeled Maduro a “narcoterrorist.”

Maduro has denied claims that his country is a source of drug trafficking (A 2025 DEA report concluded that Mexico, not Venezuela, produces the lion’s share of illicit drugs that enter the U.S.). He has also accused the U.S. government of plotting to overthrow him and seize Venezuela’s vast oil wealth.

While Democratic lawmakers criticized Maduro, who U.S. officials accuse of human rights abuses and suppressing dissent, they remained troubled by Trump’s combative tactics against him.

“Maduro is a brutal dictator,” Merkley said. “That does not give the President the authority to drag our nation into another endless war.”

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons noted that the president’s belligerent actions are inconsistent with the campaign promises that got him elected.

“Trump ran on ending foreign wars,” Coons told McClatchy News. “But it increasingly looks like we are sleepwalking into a new war of choice in South America.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Democrats slam Trump’s boat strikes off South America as ‘illegal’ and ‘reckless’."