Trump Used to Fantasize About Killing Suspects. Now He’s Doing It.

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Cite

Charen, M. (2026, September 13). Trump Used to Fantasize About Killing Suspects. Now He’s Doing It. The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-us-is-engaged-in-extra-judicial

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Bulwark · collected 2026-09-13 · by Mona Charen commentary

Quick Summary

Mona Charen welcomes John Walsh and Adam Isacson from the Washington Office on Latin America to discuss Operation Southern Spear, a Trump administration initiative involving deadly strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats. The conversation delves into the legal justification for these strikes, including their failure to reduce cocaine supply and the wariness of U.S. allies in sharing intelligence due to potential misuse in such operations.
Written by AI on 2026-09-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Mona Charen discusses Operation Southern Spear with John Walsh and Adam Isacson from the Washington Office on Latin America. The operation involves deadly strikes by the Trump administration targeting suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Despite this, Pentagon and DEA officials say cocaine supply levels have not been reduced. Allies are wary of sharing intelligence due to concerns over potential misuse in these operations. The conversation also delves into the controversial legal basis for the strikes and allegations that survivors were targeted in follow-up attacks.

Written for “Trump Violence Extremism” on 2026-10-28, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump Violence Extremism
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-14 · source text last changed 2026-09-14 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 536 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
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Who wrote this

Mona Charen
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 They also discuss why Wall Street considers the U.S. a riskier borrower than Greece, the failure of Trump’s deadly drug boat strikes, and what it will take to repair the damage after Trump.
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🔮 THE HOME OF DWIGHT EISENHOWER and Amelia Earhart is rarely part of the national conversation—but that could be about to change.
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🔮 At home that night, I couldn’t even bend my left elbow enough to remove my earrings or necklace.
2026-09-14 · assertive framing · The Lesson of a Fractured Elbow
🔮 They examine the killing of survivors in a second strike, Pete Hegseth’s purge of military lawyers, the evidence that the campaign hasn’t reduced the cocaine supply, and why U.S. allies are increasingly wary of sharing intelligence that could be used in the strikes.
2026-09-13 · assertive framing · Trump Used to Fantasize About Killing Suspects. Now He’s Doing It.
Also by Mona Charen
Trump’s Reckless AI Policy Could Leave America Defenseless (w/ Francis Fukuyama)
2026-10-25 · The Bulwark
The Real Lessons of the French Riots
2026-10-21 · The Bulwark
Markets Are Sending Trump a Very Ominous Warning (w/ David Frum)
2026-10-18 · The Bulwark
Susan Glasser: Trump’s Most Loyal Supporters Are Abandoning Him
2026-10-10 · The Bulwark
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Mona Charen →

Topics

Operation Southern Spear The Bulwark U.S. WOLA the Washington Office on Latin America

Subjects

U.S. GPE · 3× Adam Isacson PERSON · 2× John Walsh PERSON · 2× Mona PERSON · 2× The Bulwark ORG · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× the Washington Office on Latin America ORG · 2× Pete Hegseth’s PERSON · 1× The Washington Post ORG · 1× WOLA ORG · 1×

Narrative

Mona welcomes John Walsh and Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America to discuss Operation Southern Spear Mona talks with Adam Isacson and John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America about Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration’s deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, and the secret legal theory being used to justify them.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-14
🔮 They examine the killing of survivors in a second strike, Pete Hegseth’s purge of military lawyers, the evidence that the campaign hasn’t reduced the cocaine supply, and why U.S. allies are increasingly wary of sharing intelligence that could be used in the strikes.
2026-09-14 · The Bulwark
Trump Used to Fantasize About Killing Suspects. Now He’s Doing It. · assertive framing

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

Trump Used to Fantasize About Killing Suspects. asserted
Trump → use → Suspects
Now He’s Doing It. asserted
He → do → It
Mona welcomes John Walsh and Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America to discuss Operation Southern Spear Mona talks with Adam Isacson and John Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America about Operation Southern Spear, the Trump administration’s deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats, and the secret legal theory being used to justify them. asserted
Mona → welcome → them
They examine the killing of survivors in a second strike, Pete Hegseth’s purge of military lawyers, the evidence that the campaign hasn’t reduced the cocaine supply, and why U.S. allies are increasingly wary of sharing intelligence that could be used in the strikes. uncertain
that → examine → strikes
Further reading: WOLA — Killing Spree: Extrajudicial Executions in the U.S. Boat Strikes Campaign The Washington Post — Deadly U.S. boat strikes have failed to curb cocaine supply, Pentagon and DEA officials say Reuters — We bought everything needed to make $3 million worth of fentanyl. asserted
We → fail → fentanyl
All it took was $3,600. asserted
it → take → ?
Mona Charen and Sonny Bunch will discuss Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation and Emily Wilson’s translation of the epic LIVE with Bulwark+ members at 1:30 p.m. EDT. asserted
Charen → discuss → EDT
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it → value → Bulwark
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you → gain → one
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