On September 2, 2025—a year ago today—the Trump administration first drone-bombed a small boat in the Caribbean Sea.
asserted
administration → bomb → Sea
That strike killed 11 people.
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strike → kill → people
Then, according to members of Congress who saw classified footage of the attack, the drone circled back for a “double-tap” strike, killing two survivors as they clung to the wreckage.
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they → accord → wreckage
Administration officials claimed without evidence that the attack was a necessary measure against alleged drug-smugglers.
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attack → claim → smugglers
As justification for the strikes, the administration has relied on and publicly cited a memorandum prepared by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
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administration → rely → Counsel
But it has kept the memo secret, despite pressure from lawmakers and civil society groups.
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it → keep → lawmakers
And the bombs haven’t stopped: in the year since, the US military has launched 68 “boat strikes” that have killed at least 227 people.
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that → stop → people
The most recent strike, on August 25, killed four people the administration claimed were “narcoterrorists.”
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administration → kill → people
The military, according to the Associated Press, again offered no evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs.
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vessel → accord → drugs
The UN Human Rights Office released a statement on Wednesday condemning the strikes and stating trafficking drugs, even with evidence, would not justify extrajudicial murder.
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trafficking → release → murder
“Drug trafficking is a law enforcement matter governed by international human rights law on the use of force.
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trafficking → govern → force
Calling it war does not make it one,” the statement reads.
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statement → call → it
“No armed conflict exists with the United States under international humanitarian law, since there is no military combat between two sides.
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conflict → exist → sides
The United States is simply killing individuals unilaterally without any legal basis or process.”
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States → kill → basis
While many of the strikes’ victims remain unidentified, some victims have been identified by their families as ordinary fishermen with no relationship to the drug trade.
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victims → remain → trade
The families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, two Trinidadian men killed in a US boat strike on October 15, 2025, are suing the Trump administration under the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute.
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families → kill → Act
“For a year now, the Trump administration has engaged in a terrifying, lawless killing campaign at sea and has yet to provide the public with anything beyond the most threadbare justifications,” said Jeff Stein, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project.
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Stein → engage → Project
“These strikes have devastated countless families, terrified communities, and, by the administration’s own admission, failed to achieve their purported goal of stopping drugs from entering into the United States.”
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strikes → devastate → States
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said two weeks ago that he intends to expand his campaign to land in Latin America.
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he → say → America
It will be “like you saw with the strikes on the drug boats,” Hegseth told reporters during an August military drill in the jungle in Panama.
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Hegseth → see → Panama
And so we’re working with Ecuador.
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we → work → Ecuador
We’re working with Colombia.
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We → work → Colombia
We’re working with partners to bring the fight to the designated terrorist organizations on land.
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We → work → land
Anywhere you traffic drugs, or you threaten the American people, or our partners, you are a target, just like ISIS or Al-Qaeda.”
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you → traffic → ISIS
The Aporia
