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President Donald Trump sent a mandatory legal notification to Congress following the second U.S. strike on a drug smuggling vessel, declaring drug cartels to be "unlawful combatants" and saying that the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict.”

The memo is a report mandated by federal law following any incident in which U.S. forces are involved in an attack or hostilities. A White House official said the report was conveyed to Congress following the second strike and “does not convey any new information.”

The Trump administration has carried out three strikes in recent weeks on boats it said were smuggling drugs in the Caribbean, starting with a Sept. 2 strike that administration officials said killed 11 members of Tren de Aragua, a criminal group that originated in Venezuela and was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States earlier this year.

“Although friendly foreign nations have made significant efforts to combat these organizations, suffering significant losses of life, these groups are now transnational and conduct ongoing attacks throughout the Western Hemisphere as organized cartels,” the memo, which refers to cartel members as “unlawful combatants” and was obtained by The Associated Press on Oct. 2, states.

“Therefore, the President determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States.”

The president issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/designating-cartels-and-other-organizations-as-foreign-terrorist-organizations-and-specially-designated-global-terrorists/">executive order</a> directing the designation of cartels as terrorist groups on his first day in office. The State Department issued a <a href="https://www.state.gov/terrorist-designations-of-international-cartels">formal designation</a> on Feb. 20. These records didn't refer to cartel members as “unlawful combatants” nor describe their activity as “an armed attack against the United States.”

A Pentagon spokesperson referred a request for comment to the White House.

“As we have said many times, the President acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans,” Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, told The Epoch Times via email.

The first strike in early September came because Tren de Aragua was ferrying a lot of drugs in a boat, officials <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/us-forces-strike-suspected-drug-boat-11-tren-de-aragua-members-killed-trump-5909309">said</a>. A second strike, announced on Sept. 15, came after the military positively identified narcoterrorists transporting drugs, <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-conducts-strike-on-another-drug-boat-from-venezuela-trump-5915436">according to</a> Trump. The third strike, announced on Sept. 19, targeted “a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking,” Trump <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-confirms-3rd-strike-on-alleged-drug-boat-in-caribbean-5917778">wrote</a> in a post on Truth Social.

Senators recently <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/democrats-introduce-bill-to-stop-strikes-in-caribbean-on-drug-traffickers-5917438">introduced</a> a measure under the War Powers Act that would prohibit using the military against non-state groups involved in drug trafficking, barring authorization from Congress.

"Drug cartels must be stopped, but declaring war & ordering lethal military force without Congress or public knowledge—nor legal justification—is unacceptable," Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee,<a href="https://x.com/SenJackReed/status/1973819144945483956"> wrote</a> on X Thursday.

Others expressed support for the determination.

"From the United States Congress, I can assure you that we will support any measure President Trump takes to annihilate the cartels led by [President] Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela," Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), a member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, <a href="https://x.com/RepCarlos/status/1973834157190230297">said</a> on X.

Officials have said the strikes are necessary to protect Americans.

“We’re not going to sit back anymore and watch these people sail up and down the Caribbean like a cruise ship," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in September. "It’s not going to happen."

<em>Emel Akan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-says-us-in-armed-conflict-with-drug-cartels-5923692">The Epoch Times</a></em>

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Trump Notifies Congress of 'Armed Conflict' With Drug Cartels