NYT: Trump Formally Declares ‘War’ on Cartels to Congress, Signaling Military Action

President Donald Trump has reportedly notified Congress that the United States is now engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, branded as terrorist organizations by his administration, as per a confidential notice obtained by The New York Times.

The Times reported that the administration’s notice to several congressional committees explained the legal reasoning behind the military strikes ordered by Trump last month against drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, strikes that resulted in 17 fatalities. The people on board were classified as “unlawful combatants” due to alleged cartel ties, according to the administration.

The notice stated that Trump has determined cartel-affiliated groups as “nonstate armed groups” whose actions equate to an “armed attack against the United States.” By referencing international law on what is termed a “noninternational armed conflict,” the administration is casting its anti-cartel operations as a wartime campaign, not isolated self-defense strikes.

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Legal analysts cited by the Times believe this move solidifies Trump’s assertion to extraordinary wartime powers. These powers entail the ability to target enemy combatants without trial, detain suspects indefinitely, and try them in military courts. The administration emphasized the destructive impact of drug overdoses, claiming approximately 100,000 American lives annually, as justification.

However, the Times pointed out that much of the U.S. military’s attention has been on Venezuelan vessels, despite experts attributing the surge in fentanyl deaths primarily to Mexican cartels. Critics told the paper that the administration is extending the law by equating drug trafficking with an “armed attack.”

The notice, although controlled but unclassified, did not identify specific cartels or establish clear standards for determining cartel affiliations. In a recent instance, the administration branded three men killed on Sept. 15 as “unlawful combatants,” citing intelligence that their vessel was linked to a designated terrorist organization and was transporting narcotics destined for the U.S.

Some legal scholars remain skeptical. Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer, questioned under international law whether nonstate groups must be “organized armed groups” to be counted as parties to a conflict. He further questioned whether the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump officials have highlighted, fits that definition.