Trump administration strikes a seventh alleged drug boat, killing 3, Hegseth says
CBS21 hrs
Trump Stops Colombia Aid, Calls President Petro 'Drug Dealer'
Above: Donald Trump (L) and Gustavo Petro on Sept. 5, 2025, and Oct. 20, 2024, respectively. Image copyright: Joaquin Sarmiento, Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
These military strikes on drug-carrying boats are exactly the kind of bold action needed to protect U.S. lives from narco-terrorist organizations that have been allowed to flood the U.S. with a deadly weapon that has poisoned Americans for too long. Traditional law enforcement approaches have clearly failed to stop this carnage. As for Gustavo Petro, he is just a lame duck socialist leader whose flagship Total Peace plan was a joke.
Establishment-critical narrative
The U.S. military is carrying out extrajudicial executions in violation of international law and basic due process rights without being at war — that's utterly unacceptable and against all of the country's legal tradition. At least 32 people have been killed in seven known U.S. strikes, and officials have failed to provide any evidence to Congress about who they are bombing, what the boats were carrying and where the boats were heading.