Trump has decreed that the United States is in “armed conflict” with the drug cartels,
a status that aims to provide legal cover to the administration for using deadly force.

In a notice to Congress reviewed by The Washington Post,
the White House indicated that
Trump directed the attacks
pursuant to the "law of armed conflict"
after he “determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations”
and "must" conduct the strikes in "self-defense".

Trump, struggling to explain why the military action is necessary,
has repeatedly claimed that more than 300,000 U.S. citizens die of drug overdoses annually.

(The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 87,000 overdose deaths for the year ending in September 2024,
a nearly 27 percent decline from the previous year.)

The administration has said three of the targeted vessels departed from Venezuela,
and tensions between the two countries are high as Venezuela’s leader,
Nicolás Maduro, has accused the United States of amplifying military operations
as a precursor to an invasion intended to oust him from power.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/10/03/hegseth-venezuela-drug-strike/