President Trump has quietly authorized the U.S. military to use force against Latin American drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations, according to Friday reports.
The directive marks Trump’s most aggressive step yet against gangs trafficking drugs such as fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border—an area previously handled primarily by federal law enforcement.
First reported Friday by The New York Times, the order grants U.S. forces formal authority to take action against cartels both on land and at sea.
“The president is determined to not just dismantle – but completely destroy – [Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro’s Cartel de Los Soles and obliterate their operations in the Western Hemisphere,” a source close to the White House said.
The State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations engaged in drug trafficking includes Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, the Cartel de Los Soles, and the El Salvador-based Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13.
Trump openly floated the idea during the 2024 campaign of authorizing military action against drug cartels operating inside Mexico, the New York Post reported.
Since returning to office, he has increased tariffs on Canada and Mexico, citing their failure to curb drug and human smuggling into the United States, and has directed immigration authorities to target new arrivals with suspected gang affiliations.
Trump has also welcomed families affected by gang violence to the White House and pledged to seize cartel assets and redirect them to families impacted by what he calls “migrant crime.”
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in power since 2013, has been a key focus of the administration’s efforts, The Post added.
On Thursday, the Justice and State Departments announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on charges of violating U.S. drug trafficking laws.
The anti-cartel campaign is being coordinated across multiple agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, as well as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of the Treasury, a source said.
“President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.