Trump has issued a slew of new executive order as he designated cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organisations
DONALD Trump is continuing to strike illegal drug boats off Venezuela’s coast and may now be thinking about expanding his crackdown on land.
The US President praised the Navy’s efforts to “blow the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water” on Sunday as he continues to wage war with the cartels.
Trump has now hinted at further action inside Venezuelan territory.
Speaking at Naval Station Norfolk while standing beside the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman, he announced: “In recent weeks, the Navy has supported our mission to blow the cartel terrorists the hell out of the water… We did another one last night.”
Trump continued, saying inland cartels would be the new targets – even threatening to strike inside Venezuela.
“They’re not coming in by sea any more, so now we’ll have to start looking about the land because they’ll be forced to go by land,” he said.
Any potential move would be unprecedented as the US military has never directly attacked cartels in Mexico or Venezuela.
Javed Ali, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, said a direct attack on cartels north of the border would give the president the widest opportunity for action inside Mexico.
He said Trump could also put Article II of the US Constitution into play, meaning the president is free to use the military to defend the US.
Ali said the US could also invoke the War Powers Act, which would give Trump 60 days to carry out military operations before having to seek congressional approval.
Trump’s choices come alongside a slew of new executive order where he designated cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organisations.
The order designated eight Latin American cartels, including six from Mexico, as terrorist groups.
The executive order is one of several Trump signed to deal with the problems of drugs, unchecked immigration, and human trafficking.
Regardless of whether Trump followed the domestic legalities of cross-border action, his first option would likely be airstrikes, most likely using powerful Reaper drones.
For this to happen, Mexican authorities would have to approve any military action carried out by the US.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the executive order would only be applicable if there was close coordination between the two governments.
“We all want to fight the drug cartels,” Sheinbaum said.
“The US in their territory [and] us in our territory.”
Trump would also face other problems, including deciphering which cartels to target first.
It comes as Pete Hegseth, US Defence Secretary, showed off one of the pinpoint strikes on a narcotics boat last week.
The footage shows a boat travelling through international waters before a web of missiles fall around the vessel causing the boat to explode on impact.
Hegseth told Fox News that “all options are on the table if we’re dealing with what are designated to be foreign terrorist organisations”.
He said he had “every authorisation needed” to conduct the attacks.
He did not provide more details on who authorisation came from.
On the social media platform X, he said the vessel had been carrying “substantial amounts of narcotics – headed to America to poison our people”.
“These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over,” he wrote.
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15298597/trump-land-war-on-drug-cartels-venezuela-boat-blitz/