Secret DOJ Memo Green‑lights US 'Drug Boat' Airstrikes Using Trump's Wartime Theory — Report

Classified DOJ memo cites presidential wartime authority to justify airstrikes on alleged 'drug boats'

A classified Department of Justice memo that authorizes U.S. airstrikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels relies largely on legal arguments advanced by President Donald Trump, The New York Times reports. According to reporting, the memo frames drug cartels as participants in an "armed conflict" with the United States and its partners, a characterization that the administration says places such lethal force within the president's wartime authorities.

The military began attacking small vessels in the Caribbean on Sept. 2, and operations have since extended into the eastern Pacific. Officials cited in media reports say roughly 20 strikes have taken place, with at least 80 people killed in those operations targeting suspected smuggling boats.

How the memo frames the threat

Per The New York Times, the memo opens by repeating White House claims that drug-trafficking organizations have sought to destabilize the Western Hemisphere and have committed violence that endangers American lives. It reportedly characterizes these groups not merely as criminal enterprises but as "terrorists" who fund violence through narcotics sales — a framing that, the memo argues, permits the president to treat them as an enemy in an armed conflict.

"The memo contends that killings of those suspected of operating the networks fall within the wartime authorities claimed by the president," The New York Times reports.

Legal shield and international concerns

The memo includes a lengthy legal defense asserting that administration officials and military personnel charged over such killings would be protected by what it calls "battlefield immunity" because of the alleged armed-conflict status. Human-rights organizations and international-law experts have sharply disputed that conclusion, warning the strikes may violate international law and could amount to extrajudicial killings.

Regional governments have reacted strongly: Venezuela and Colombia have accused the U.S. of carrying out unlawful killings, and the United Kingdom temporarily suspended regional intelligence sharing with Washington in protest. Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress from both parties have pressed the administration for clearer information about the targets and the legal basis for the operations.

Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR and the administration's rationale

As operations have accelerated, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the campaign will be formally known as Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. In a post on X, Hegseth said, "President Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering," adding that the mission "defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people."

The administration's legal argument draws on the same kind of wartime authority the George W. Bush administration relied on after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to justify the "War on Terror." Critics say that analogy is legally and factually flawed because cartels are typically criminal networks operating within and across states, not state-like armed forces or international terrorist organizations covered by traditional laws of armed conflict.

Questions ahead

The controversy raises urgent questions about oversight, targeting criteria, the risk to civilians, and the international legal framework for lethal force against non-state criminal groups. Congress, foreign governments, and legal experts are likely to press the administration for further disclosures and legal justification as the operations continue.

Reporting cited: The New York Times.