Pentagon Lawyers Questioning Trump's Strikes on Cartels

Concerns are reportedly growing among military lawyers and Pentagon officials over the legal basis for President Donald Trump's expanding campaign of military strikes against Latin American drug cartels.

Sources close to the discussions say the objections center on whether the attacks — including those on boats in international waters — are legally justified, as well as the risks U.S. military personnel could face in carrying them out, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Some Pentagon lawyers have issued written and verbal opinions warning against the operations, but they believe their advice is being disregarded or sidelined, the sources added.

Their concerns have surfaced as the Trump administration has widened the campaign, including on Monday, when the United States struck a second vessel in international waters, saying it was smuggling narcotics, and killed three people.

Trump raised the number on Tuesday, telling reporters at the White House that the United States had "knocked off" three boats, not two, that were carrying narcotics from Venezuela.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., questioned the moves after the first Venezuelan boat was hit earlier this month, killing 11 people, Politico reported.

"Maybe [the boat] was coming here," he told reporters. "Maybe it wasn't. But nobody's even asking whether we need to prove that. We just blow them up ... Are we going to blow up every boat? It is just insane."

Inside the Pentagon, some officials object to the decision to use lethal force immediately instead of trying to interdict the vessels. They note that, unlike operations against terror groups in the Middle East, where Congress has authorized military action, there is no such approval for targeting Latin American cartels.

Other defense officials have voiced concern that U.S. service members involved in the operations could be "personally liable," one person said.

The White House defended the strikes as lawful.

"These presidentially directed strikes were conducted against the operations of a designated terrorist organization and were taken in defense of vital U.S. national interests," spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. "The strikes were fully consistent with the law of armed conflict."

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, meanwhile, denied that any legal objections had been raised inside the department.

"Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law," Parnell said. "Lawyers up and down the chain of command have been thoroughly involved in reviewing these operations ... none questioning their legality."

The administration has relied on the president's constitutional powers as commander-in-chief and on international law's self-defense provisions to justify the strikes. But critics argue that Trump exceeded his authority by using military force against targets that did not pose an immediate threat to the U.S. and by acting without congressional authorization.

The debate comes against the backdrop of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's moves to shake up the Pentagon's legal leadership.

Earlier this year, he dismissed the top lawyers for the armed services, saying they might obstruct military orders, and installed his personal attorney as a Navy judge advocate. He also cut staff in offices set up to mitigate civilian harm during combat operations.

John Altenburg, a retired Army major general and legal scholar, said Trump appeared to view drug trafficking as a national security threat. "Apparently, the president has decided that drugs are that insidious, they're that bad, they undermine the fabric of the nation; therefore, it constitutes a threat," he said.

Trump has insisted the targeted vessels were smuggling drugs. "All you have to do is look at the cargo that was scattered all over the ocean," he said, pointing to bags of cocaine and fentanyl. But the administration has not disclosed that evidence publicly, and experts note Venezuelan gangs typically do not traffic fentanyl.

Still, senior Pentagon leaders are standing by the campaign. "What President Trump is doing is executing on the mandate of the American people to keep our country safe," Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said.