Washington: President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict”, according to a Trump administration memo.

Following recent American strikes on boats in the Caribbean, Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The memo, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, Washington time, is startling in scope and signals a potential new moment not just in the US administration’s willingness to reach beyond the norms of presidential authority to wage war, but in the Trump’s “America First” agenda.

It also raises stark questions about

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