The Department of Defense announced last week that the USS Gerald R. Ford strike group and its 4,500 sailors and Marines would deploy to the Caribbean as part of the Trump administration’s escalating military activity in that region. The White House has for weeks expanded attacks against vessels it alleges are trafficking drugs, but it has not supplied evidence to members of Congress or the American public to support that assertion.
The nebulous and secretive nature of those operations poses significant questions about their legality and the potential liability of service members who may be carrying out extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians. Given the number of Hampton Roads-based forces being directed to that theater, elected officials who represent the commonwealth, both Republican and Democratic, should be demanding answers on behalf of the American public.
Since Sept. 2, the United States has attacked at least 13 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing at least 60 people. The latest were confirmed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on social media on Tuesday, when the former Fox News host posted video of three boats destroyed by U.S. forces.
All of the strikes have so far been conducted in international waters, but they are part of an aggressive White House campaign against Venezuela and, more specifically, its president, Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration accuses the Maduro government of collaborating with Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan street gang, in the trafficking of drugs to the United States.
President Donald Trump signaled his intention to target TDA and other criminal gangs by signing two executive orders designating them as terrorist organizations. Though U.S. intelligence services dispute that Maduro is working with TDA as part of the drug trade, the White House appears eager to remove the Venezuelan president from power.
To wit: The Defense Department announced last week that the Ford strike group would move from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean to bolster the large number of U.S. forces already deployed to the region. There are at least eight other Navy vessels there with an estimated 6,500 Marines and sailors, as well as 3,500 troops nearby. It is the largest assembly of firepower in the region since the Cuban missile crisis.
There is ample speculation that such a substantial force build-up represents a prelude to a war aimed at ousting Maduro. The Ford’s deployment only adds fuel to that fire. An aircraft carrier is hardly the ideal hardware to conduct interdiction operations or even targeted strikes against suspected narco-traffickers.
The larger problem, however, is that there’s no clear indication these boats and the people aboard them are engaged in illicit or illegal behavior. The White House refuses to provide evidence that there are drugs aboard the boats it strikes and that those abroad are associated with TDA. It won’t explain why the president doesn’t stop the vessels and arrest those aboard rather than executing them.
It’s not merely that the administration won’t provide answers to the American people. It refuses to explain this campaign to Congress which, if this is a war, is required. As with so many other things, this president believes he has the power to act unilaterally and that the federal legislature won’t stop him.
When asked about consulting Congress last week, Trump replied, “I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them. You know, they’re going to be, like, dead.”
That poses serious questions for those men and women tasked with conducting these operations, many of whom live here in Hampton Roads. While the Supreme Court granted the president immunity for official acts, members of the military enjoy no such protection should they execute unlawful orders.
If the United States intends to wage war, risking American lives and spending American dollars, the White House must be honest and transparent about the reasons for doing so. Our officials, and members of the public, should demand nothing less.
