The United Nations (U.N.) has staked out a position against President Donald Trump’s lethal airstrikes on drug-trafficking boats.
“These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable,” U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told ABC News in a statement published Friday afternoon. “The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them.”
“Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against individuals who pose an imminent threat to life. Based on the very sparse information provided publicly by the U.S. authorities, none of the individuals on the targeted boats appeared to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others or otherwise justified the use of lethal armed force against them under international law,” he added.
The last strike was reportedly completed on Wednesday:
Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific.
This vessel, like all the others, was known by our… pic.twitter.com/mBOLA5RYQe
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 29, 2025
The White House responded with its own scathing statement, blasting the U.N. and defending the administration’s boat strikes.
“The UN has failed at everything from operating an escalator to ending wars — it’s ridiculous that they are now lecturing President Trump and running cover for evil narcoterrorists trying to murder Americans,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said.
“The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from destroying lives,” she added.
Since September, the administration has completed over a dozen deadly airstrikes on drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, all to stop the flow of drugs into the United States.
As of Friday, reports also suggested that the Trump administration intended to take this conflict to the next level by directly targeting Venezuela, a country that’s been deeply implicated in drug trafficking.
#BREAKING: The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment.
Maduro’s dictatorship is about to come to an end. pic.twitter.com/ouggEfnCrg
— Frankie™️ (@B7frankH) October 31, 2025
“The planned attacks … will seek to destroy military installations used by the drug-trafficking organization the U.S. says is headed by Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and run by top members of his regime,” according to the Miami Herald.
“Sources [said] that the targets – which could be struck by air in a matter of days or even hours – also aim to decapitate the cartel’s hierarchy. U.S. officials believe the cartel exports around 500 tons of cocaine yearly, split between Europe and the United States,” the Herald noted.
The reports also hinted at Trump wanting to take out Maduro himself.
“Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to,” the Herald’s source said. “What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming.”
President Trump has, for his part, denied these reports:
“There are reports that you are considering strikes within Venezuela. Is that true?”@POTUS: “No, it’s not true.”
This was today.
America Last @MiamiHerald must be getting fake new tips from the Cuban Congressional Mafia in South Florida to force regime change in Venezuela. https://t.co/eoXTxCtt8a pic.twitter.com/smFIA8hrcX
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 31, 2025
Elliott Abrams, who served as U.S. special representative for Venezuela during Trump’s first term in office, likewise told the Herald that whatever Trump has planned for Venezuela can’t be that way.
“I don’t think he wants something that could drag on,” he said. “Still, a full-scale invasion would be far larger and costlier than the current posture. Even the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama – a smaller, militarily less complex country — required about 30,000 troops.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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