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September 16, 2025

Trump Says U.S. Strikes a Second Venezuelan Boat, Killing 3 People
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President Trump said Monday the U.S. had carried out a strike against a
second boat he alleged was carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing at
least three people on board. Trump made the announcement on social media
and posted a video of an apparent airstrike, showing a speedboat
erupting in flames. This follows a strike earlier this month on another
boat also allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, which reportedly
killed 11 people. Speaking to The New York Times, Rear Admiral Donald J.
Guter, a retired top judge advocate, said, "Trump is normalizing what I
consider to be an unlawful strike." Here's Venezuela's President Nicolás
Maduro speaking shortly before the second strike.

President Nicolás Maduro: "This is not tension; it is outright
aggression - judicial aggression, when they criminalize us; political
aggression, with their daily threatening statements; diplomatic
aggression; and ongoing military aggression. Venezuela is empowered by
international law to comprehensively confront this aggression. It is not
tension; it is aggression."



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