US President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 19, 2025. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump has determined that the US is in an “armed conflict” with the drug cartels his administration has designated as terrorist organizations, according to a notice the Pentagon provided to Congress on Wednesday obtained by CNN.

The notice also says the president has determined that smugglers for the cartels are “unlawful combatants,” and therefore the Defense Department was legally authorized to strike a boat in the Caribbean last month believed to be transporting members of a group the administration has designated a terrorist organization.

The US military has carried out at least three su

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