Trump Announces 5th US Strike on Drug Boat Near Venezuela

‘Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks,’ the president said.

A screenshot of the moment before a U.S. military strike on a vessel suspected of carrying narcotics through international waters near Venezuela on Oct. 14, 2025. @realDonaldTrump via Truth Social

U.S. forces conducted a new lethal strike on a drug trafficking boat off the coast of Venezuela on Oct. 14, according to President Donald Trump.

“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility—just off the Coast of Venezuela,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday afternoon.