Trump directs Pentagon to use military force against foreign drug cartels

Trump directs Pentagon to use military force against foreign drug cartels. Recent moves suggest ramping up pressure on Venezuela’s Maduro.

The New York Times has learned that President Trump has secretly signed a directive ordering the Department of Defense to target foreign drug cartels with military force. Earlier this year, Trump designated several cartels as “terrorist organizations” to empower his administration to take a broader range of action against them. Six of the cartels were in Mexico, one in El Salvador, and one in Venezuela.

While the US military can take action against smuggling in US waters and sometimes in international waters, taking military action against cartels and those suspected of connection to them on foreign soil raises a number of legal issues. While Congress has previously authorized actions against al Qaeda and its affiliates, there is no blanket Congressional authorization That allows actions against any group that a current administration designates as a terrorist organization. Carrying out a drone strike, for instance, on a person on foreign soil (even a criminal suspect) who does not pose an imminent threat or who is not involved in a conflict where Congress has authorized military action, would be an act of murder. This would violate both US and international law.

Beginning under the Biden administration, the CIA has been conducting surveillance flights over parts of Mexico looking for fentanyl labs. This surveillance has continued under the Trump administration, but for now, the US is passing on this information to Mexican authorities without taking action. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a statement today that there would be “no invasion” by the US military on Mexican soil, though she welcomed cooperation with the US to combat Mexico’s cartels. However, recent events suggest the focus of Trump’s Pentagon directive may lie elsewhere.

Cartel of the Suns and Nicolas Maduro

Last month, the US and Venezuela carried out a prisoner exchange. Shortly thereafter, the Trump administration reversed its ban on US oil companies to extract and export Venezuelan oil to the US. However, what looked like a potential thaw in US-Venezuelan relations was short-lived.

During the first Trump administration, the US charged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and several other high-ranking Venezuelan military officials with drug trafficking, under an organization dubbed “Cartel of the Suns”. It’s unclear where this name originates from, but it is derived from the rank insignia used by the Venezuelan military. Two weeks ago, the administration added the Cartel of the Suns to its list of terrorist organizations. Yesterday, the Trump administration doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, and repeated its allegation that Maduro himself is the leader of the Cartel of the Suns. The Venezuelan government of course rejects these allegations and further asserts that the Cartel of the Suns does not exist.

Venezuela is a transit point for illicit drugs destined either for the United States or Europe. As was the case during the reign of Hugo Chavez before him, Maduro’s government has allowed members of its military and security establishment to profit from drug trafficking to ensure loyalty. It is debatable whether this sort of corruption, found in governments throughout Latin America, supports the conclusion that Maduro himself a kingpin directing an international crime syndicate.

The Trump administration previously alleged that Maduro was directing another Venezuelan cartel, Tren de Aragua, to invade the United States. This allegation was an attempt to justify deportations of Venezuelan migrants under the Alien Enemies Act. However, a declassified US intelligence report released in May found no indication that Venezuela’s government was directing Tren de Aragua. Not only that but Maduro’s government has been cracking down on Tren de Aragua in recent years.

Mexico’s President Sheinbaum also said today that she’s seen no evidence that the Venezuelan government is linked with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, despite recent claims to that effect from the Trump administration.

Bay of Piglets

In 2020, during the first Trump administration, a band of about 40 mercenaries landed in Venezuela to attempt a coup against Maduro. The operation was organized by Jordan Goudreau, a former US Green Beret and security contractor. This operation was apparently set in motion by advisors to Juan Guaido, the US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader. The invasion, which Goudreau dubbed “Operation Gideon”, was immediately thwarted by Venezuelan security forces. Several of the conspirators were killed in the initial confrontation and the rest were captured. The affair has been derisively dubbed “The Bay of Piglets”, a nod to the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro in 1961, which also failed.

In 2024, the Justice Department indicted Goudreau for weapons trafficking charges in connection with the shambolic coup attempt. In January 2025, Goudreau lashed out at the CIA and FBI on social media, claiming the agencies had sabotaged his operation, which he claimed had been approved by President Trump. The Maduro government has also accused Trump and the CIA of backing the invasion. However, a 2020 report by the Associated Press indicates that Goudreau had been unsuccessful in seeking backing from the Trump administration, despite his contacts with Guaido. One of the many reasons operation came apart so quickly was because of lack of resources.

While Trump’s fingerprints cannot be found on Operation Gideon, Trump’s former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and security advisor John Bolton have written in their memoirs that Trump was enthusiastically interested in US military action against Maduro. Esper wrote that he and Gen. Mark Milley (former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) had to work to restrain Trump from “misusing the military” for regime change adventurism in Venezuela, Iran and elsewhere. It is difficult to say whether Trump’s impulses have changed, but he has largely succeeded in removing those who might have served as a check on those impulses.