WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on on October 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. Leavitt spoke to reporters about a range of topics including the government shutdown and the U.S. military's recent strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) 
The strike is the most recent example of Trump's efforts to use U.S. military power in new, and often legally contentious, ways, from deploying active-duty U.S. troops in Los Angeles to carrying out counter-terrorism strikes against drug trafficking suspects.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the strike had been carried out against a designated terrorist organization, but he did not provide any details on which group.
"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks," Trump said, without providing evidence.
A roughly 30-second video, which Trump posted, appeared to show a stationary vessel in a body of water being hit with a projectile before exploding.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart. Additional reporting Jasper Ward and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Chris Reese)