Trump Refuses War Declaration Amid Deadly Cartel Strikes

On Oct. 23 President Donald Trump said he will not seek a formal declaration of war to expand U.S. military operations against international drug cartels, declaring “we’re going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country” and warning land strikes could follow. Since September, U.S. forces have struck suspected drug‑smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with the administration acknowledging roughly 37–40 deaths and two survivors taken into U.S. custody, while boosting naval and air deployments to the region. The White House has authorized broader tools, including reported CIA operations in Venezuela, and has used labels such as “unlawful combatants” or “narco‑terrorists,” even as the Pentagon has provided limited public evidence that the struck vessels were smuggling drugs. The administration says it will brief Congress on planned ground operations; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended repatriation and other decisions. Bipartisan lawmakers and legal experts have questioned the legality and oversight of bypassing formal congressional authorization, and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro warned U.S. intervention would provoke mass resistance and regional escalation.