The Trump administration is moving the survivors from this week's strike on a drug trafficking submarine to their home countries and not to the United States.
"It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. "U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics.
"There were four known narcoterrorists on board the vessel. Two of the terrorists were killed. At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore.
"The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike.
"Under my watch, the United States of America will not tolerate narcoterrorists trafficking illegal drugs, by land or by sea. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
According to U.S. officials, the survivors were aboard a semi-submersible vessel when they were hit in the attack.
Trump threatened earlier this week a ground assault on Venezuela, confirmed that covert CIA operations were underway inside the country, and ordered nuclear-capable bombers to circle its coast.
The unprecedented show of military force is seemingly aimed at pressuring Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to resign.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry responded to Trump's statements and the increased military presence in the region, describing the strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea as acts of aggression, threats, and harassment toward Venezuela.
The Trump administration has faced scrutiny regarding the legality of the strikes, and claimed the U.S. is in "armed conflict" with Latin American drug cartels linked to Maduro.
The U.S. military has carried out six strikes on Venezuelan boats this year, killing more than two dozen people.
Maduro has reportedly offered preferential access of the counties plentiful natural resources if Trump agrees to dialing back the aggressive military actions.
And Trump told reporters this week that was because the Venezuelan president "doesn't want to f*** around with the United States."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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