US is now in ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels, according to Trump memo

WH reportedly preparing to strike Venezuela cartels

National security analyst Hal Kempfer joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss reports that the White House is preparing options to strike cartels in Venezuela.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels as unlawful combatants and said the United States is now in a "non-international armed conflict." 

This is according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. 

US now in ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels

Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"Although friendly foreign nations have made significant efforts to combat these organizations, suffering significant losses of life, these groups are now transnational and conduct ongoing attacks throughout the Western Hemisphere as organized cartels," according to the memo, which refers to cartel members as "unlawful combatants." 

FILE: President Donald Trump (Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

"Therefore, the President determined these cartels are non-state armed groups, designated them as terrorist organizations, and determined that their actions constitute an armed attack against the United States."

Pentagon officials could not provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict.

Why you should care:

The memo raises stark questions about how far the White House intends to use its war powers and if Congress will exert its authority to approve – or ban – such military actions.

The Trump administration had previously justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

The other side:

Meanwhile, several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, as well as human rights groups questioned the legality of Trump’s action. They called it potential overreach of executive authority in part because the military was used for law enforcement purposes.

US strikes on boats in Caribbean

The backstory:

The news follows recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

Last month, the U.S. military carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.

RELATED: Trump says US struck drug-laden vessel departing Venezuela in Caribbean

Those strikes followed up a buildup of U.S. maritime forces in the Caribbean.

The first military strike, carried out on Sept. 2 on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat, killed 11 people. Trump claimed the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which was listed by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.

Big picture view:

The latest U.N. World Drug Report shows that various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, but it does not assign Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.

The impact of increased cocaine trafficking has been felt in Ecuador in particular, which has seen a wave of lethal violence in recent years linked to both local and transnational crime groups, most notably from Mexico and the Balkan countries," according to the report.