Trump Declares Armed Conflict After Strikes Kill 17

President Trump notified Congress in a confidential memo that the United States is engaged in a “non‑international armed conflict” with drug cartels, designating multiple cartels as terrorist organizations and cartel members as “unlawful combatants.” The administration has used that determination to justify recent U.S. strikes in the Caribbean that destroyed suspected smuggling boats and killed at least 17 people, and it has massed naval forces in the region. Officials say the actions are lawful self‑defense and have directed the Defense Department to conduct operations under the law of armed conflict. Legal experts, rights groups and some lawmakers say the rationale stretches established war‑powers and international‑law limits, arguing cartels have not carried out armed attacks on U.S. soil and warning that killing suspects at sea may be unlawful without congressional authorization. Lawmakers who received the classified notice complained it lacked detail about which groups were designated and whether the memo authorizes future strikes, even as the administration signals it may expand operations, including potential actions tied to Venezuela.