When it comes to fighting America’s drug problem, the Trump administration seems to have traded courtrooms for combat zones. The U.S. military has been carrying out air and sea strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and off the coast of Venezuela.
Officials say these operations are meant to stop “narco-terrorists” before they reach our shores, but here’s the problem: we don’t actually know who’s being killed, or what evidence proves they were drug traffickers in the first place.
According to the administration, at least 43 people have been killed since this campaign began. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the military has conducted its 10th strike so far — and there’s talk of land strikes coming next. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) even told CBS News that he thinks President Trump has decided “it’s time for Maduro to go,” talking about the Venezuelan leader and calling land strikes a “real possibility.”
Graham then doubled down, saying the military will “kill the people that want to poison America.”
But let’s pause. Because while Graham sounds ready to invade and escalate, other lawmakers — even Republicans — are sounding the alarm. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a longtime defender of the Constitution, went on “Fox News Sunday” and said he’s never been invited to any briefing about these attacks.
“A briefing is not enough to overcome the Constitution. The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. … The drug war, or the crime war, has typically been dealt with through law enforcement, and so far they have alleged that these people are drug dealers … and we’ve had no evidence presented. So at this point we would call them extrajudicial killings.”
Paul didn’t stop there. “At this point,” he said, “this is what China does, this is what Iran does without ever presenting any evidence to the public. So it’s wrong.”
And that’s really the point — America was built on checks and balances. We’re supposed to be the country that demands proof before punishment, not one that bombs suspects at sea without due process.
Yet the White House is openly suggesting it doesn’t need Congress. Trump even told reporters, “We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we are doing … but we don’t have to do that.”
So, let me get this straight. If 43 people were killed in a law enforcement operation, with no evidence shown, no transparency, and no vote from Congress — what exactly do we call that? “The war on drugs” or “the war without rules”?
Because when a government decides it can kill whoever it labels a criminal — without trial, without proof, and without oversight — that’s not a show of strength. That’s a red flag.
At the very least, Americans deserve answers. Who was killed? Why? And under what legal authority? Until we know that, calling these “extrajudicial killings” isn’t radical — it’s reality.
Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.
