Trump says drug cartels operating in the Caribbean are ‘unlawful combatants’
President also declared the US is now in a ‘non-international conflict’, according to a White House memo
The Trump administration is trying to justify strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats by advancing a novel legal theory that the US is now in a “non-international armed conflict”, according to a person familiar with a notification to Congress.
The notification was provided by senior Pentagon officials as part of an attempt to explain the Trump administration’s legal arguments for the strikes, including a classified briefing to members of the Senate armed services committee on Wednesday.