{"id":14975,"date":"2025-09-27T18:20:41","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=14975"},"modified":"2025-09-27T18:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:20:41","slug":"top-dem-defends-trumps-military-strike-on-drug-smugglers-in-blow-to-schumer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=14975","title":{"rendered":"Top Dem Defends Trump\u2019s Military Strike On Drug Smugglers In Blow to Schumer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) strongly defended President Donald Trump\u2019s use of military force against suspected drug smugglers after a New York Times report questioned the legality of the action.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOverdosing takes 100,000+ American lives every year. Cartels wage this war against our nation everyday. Maybe it\u2019s time for our nation to push back and hold the cartels fully accountable,\u201d Fetterman wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>The Times piece, authored by Charlie Savage, said Trump \u201cused the military in a way that had no clear legal precedent or basis\u201d by ordering U.S. forces to kill a group aboard what he described as a drug-smuggling boat.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1963725333557039328&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativebrief.com%2Ftop-democrat-94895%2F&amp;sessionId=2ff53628a199f70e5dc68f8f5d08dfcecbe3c7c0&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1963725333557039328\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<p>Conservative lawmakers and analysts countered that because the smugglers were tied to organizations classified as terrorist groups, they were legitimate targets. The men killed this week were identified as members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has been labeled \u201cnarcoterrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to a Daily Wire op-ed, the smugglers were not warned by the Coast Guard and there was no attempt to arrest them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-7\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<div id=\"as5808\" data-title=\"You Might Also Like\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cUntil now, the absolute worst-case scenario is that they might get detained, very briefly, and maybe have to answer a question or two about why they\u2019re heading towards the United States on a boat with four outboard motors and millions of dollars\u2019 worth of narcotics,\u201d the report said. \u201cAnd then some NGO, armed with tax dollars commandeered by the Democrat Party, would jump into action and spring them loose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The op-ed added that this time, NGOs, academics, and judges were not given the opportunity to intervene. Supporters of the operation argue it demonstrates Trump is taking direct action to combat the drug trade, despite opposition from liberals and Democratic politicians.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Trump warned Friday that Venezuelan planes could be shot down if they put U.S. forces in what he called a \u201cdangerous position.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-10\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<p>The warning came after the Pentagon said two Venezuelan fighter planes flew near a U.S. Navy destroyer operating in international waters this week. The incident occurred as the United States expands its military presence in the southern Caribbean.<\/p>\n<p>The latest escalation follows a U.S. strike on a vessel tied to the Venezuelan-linked Tren de Aragua gang. The administration said 11 people were killed in that operation.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon described the flight of the two planes as \u201chighly provocative\u201d and cautioned Caracas not to interfere with U.S. counter-narcotics and counterterrorism operations.<\/p>\n<p>Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office about the possibility of further encounters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I would say they\u2019re gonna be in trouble,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe heard that happened, but it wasn\u2019t really over, not like they described. But I would say general, if they do that, you have a choice of doing anything you want. OK? If they fly in a dangerous position, I would say that you can, you or your captains can make the decision as to what they want to do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Asked how close the Venezuelan planes had gotten, Trump declined to provide details.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-12\">\n<div data-delay=\"4000\" data-block=\"12\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"e1c09a52-67a1-44a3-a58e-fc2bf67380c6\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWell, I don\u2019t want to talk about that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if they do put us in a dangerous position, they\u2019ll be shot down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Defense told Newsweek there was \u201cnothing new that we can provide\u201d on the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Trump had previously announced the strike against the suspected Tren de Aragua gang\u2019s vessel on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>He said the group, a designated foreign terrorist organization operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, was engaged in mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and other violent crimes across the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) strongly defended President Donald Trump\u2019s use of military force against suspected drug smugglers after a New York Times report questioned the legality of the action. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14977,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14975\/revisions\/14977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}