Washington, D.C. — In a bold and unprecedented move shaking the corridors of power, President Donald Trump has secretly authorized the U.S. military to unleash force against Latin American drug cartels now officially branded as foreign terrorist organizations.
According to an exclusive report by The New York Times, this sweeping order gives U.S. forces extraordinary authority to strike cartel operations on land and sea. Key targets include Venezuela’s notorious Tren de Aragua, the Cartel de Los Soles, and the feared MS-13 gang.
A senior White House insider revealed, “The president is not just aiming to dismantle — he wants to annihilate Maduro’s Cartel de Los Soles and erase their influence throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
Since his return to office, Trump has ramped up pressure with tightened trade restrictions on Canada and Mexico over their failure to stem drug and human smuggling. Immigration authorities are cracking down on suspected gang members, with promises to redirect seized cartel assets to families shattered by violence.
In a stunning escalation, the Justice and State Departments announced a $50 million bounty for information leading to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s capture on U.S. drug trafficking charges.
This sweeping campaign unites the Departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Treasury, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in an all-out assault on organized crime. Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly emphasized, “Protecting the homeland is President Trump’s top priority,” justifying the unprecedented step to label several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
In recent enforcement action, ICE arrested Cristian Alberto Rivas-Escalante, an El Salvadoran fugitive tied to the violent 18th Street Gang, who illegally entered the U.S. in 2015 and is wanted for serious crimes abroad.
This crackdown marks Trump’s most aggressive anti-cartel campaign yet — signaling a new era of direct U.S. military involvement in the fight against the continent’s most dangerous criminal enterprises.