Democracy Dies in DarknessThe president also signaled that his administration was preparing to take military action against Latin American cartels that move narcotics over land.Updated September 16, 2025 at 12:09 p.m. EDTtoday at 12:09 p.m. EDTPresident Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office on Sept. 5. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)The U.S. military on Monday conducted a new attack on alleged drug smugglers from Venezuela, killing three people, President Donald Trump said on social media.“This morning, on my orders, U.S. military forces conducted a SECOND kinetic strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that included video of a small boat suddenly erupting in flames. “The strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in international waters transporting illegal narcotics … headed to the U.S.”