A timeline of US attacks in the Caribbean and what Congress has had to say

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President Donald Trump is greeted by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth before speaking to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON – In less than two months, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth say the U.S. military has killed 32 people in seven strikes against drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea.

Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. He has asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels , relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terror