GOP says Trump facing tougher scrutiny for Caribbean strikes than Obama did for drone program
In recent months, President Donald Trump’s administration has faced significant scrutiny for its military strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, particularly targeting Venezuelan drug traffickers. This has prompted some congressional Republicans to argue that Trump is being held to a higher standard than former President Barack Obama, who conducted drone strikes in the Middle East with relative impunity. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has come under fire for authorizing a second strike aimed at eliminating remaining threats, leading to calls for congressional inquiries into the legality and ethics of these operations. Supporters of the strikes, including Senators Steve Daines and Roger Marshall, contend that these actions are a necessary component of a renewed “war on drugs,” claiming they save countless American lives by disrupting the flow of illegal narcotics.
Critics, however, argue that the comparison to Obama’s drone strikes is flawed. While Obama justified his military actions under the 2001 Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) in the context of the War on Terror, the rationale for Trump’s strikes lacks a similar framework, raising ethical questions about accountability and oversight. House Speaker Mike Johnson and former Speaker Newt Gingrich have pointed out that Obama faced little scrutiny for civilian casualties resulting from his drone strikes, suggesting that the current investigation into Trump’s actions may be politically motivated. Meanwhile, some Democrats, such as Senator Mark Warner, assert that the lack of a clear public explanation for Trump’s Caribbean operations contrasts sharply with the bipartisan consensus that existed during the Bush and Obama administrations regarding counterterrorism efforts.
Despite the controversy, many Senate Republicans appear to support Trump’s military actions as a necessary means to combat the drug crisis in the U.S. They argue that the strikes are effective deterrents against drug trafficking and that the loss of life due to drug overdoses surpasses that of past military conflicts. However, there is also a growing sentiment among some lawmakers that the scrutiny applied to Trump’s strikes should be consistent with the oversight that was lacking during Obama’s presidency. This ongoing debate highlights the complexities surrounding military engagement, the war on drugs, and the ethical implications of using force in the pursuit of domestic security. As congressional inquiries loom, the discussion continues to evolve, reflecting the charged political landscape and the pressing issue of drug-related violence in America.
Some congressional Republicans are making the argument that President
Donald Trump
is under far more scrutiny for his strikes in the Caribbean Sea than former President Barack Obama ever experienced for his drone strikes in the Middle East.
Trump and his administration have carried out several strikes against suspected Venezuelan drug boats over the last few months, which have garnered scrutiny from both sides of the aisle. Now, Secretary of War
Pete Hegseth
is under fire for authorizing a second strike on a suspected drug boat to wipe out remaining targets, and congressional inquiries are looming.
Some in the GOP are making the case that those actions were warranted and argue that it’s akin to a revamped
war on drugs
.
JOHNSON POINTS TO OBAMA-ERA DRONE PRECEDENT AS CONGRESS PROBES DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE
“We’re losing sight of the bigger picture here, of the war on drugs against America,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital. “There are more American lives lost because of illegal drugs than in the last seven years, than WWI, WWII, in Vietnam combined.”
Others, including House Speaker
Mike Johnson
, R-La., and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich argued that a precedent for strikes was set under Obama, and that the former president didn’t receive near the level of scrutiny that Trump is.
“If the House and Senate Armed Services Committees want to investigate the death of two drug cartel members off Venezuela, maybe they could begin with a roll-call of the innocent civilians, including women and children, killed by President Obama’s orders and a review of the rules of engagement the Obama administration followed,” Gingrich said on X. “I have no doubt Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will compare very favorably with the Obama record.”
TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?
Obama and his administration relied heavily on the 2001 Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress during the Bush administration, which at the time was given the go-ahead in former President George Bush’s “War on Terror.”
The drone strikes were carried out in Obama’s pursuit of the terrorist organization al Qaeda. Congress at the time raised ethical and legal concerns, but no legislative action to rein in the usage of drones was passed.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., told Fox News that he “felt the same way” as Johnson and Gingrich.
“This is a huge deterrent,” Marshall said. “I think they’re probably struggling to find people that want to drive these boats right now. And every one of these strikes is saving hundreds of American lives. We lose more Americans every year to drug poisoning than we did all of Vietnam. So this is a real war. People just don’t see it every day, but I think that the Trump administration is doing the right thing.”
GOP FRACTURES OVER HEGSETH’S ‘DOUBLE-TAP’ CARIBBEAN STRIKE AS CONGRESS PROBES LEGALITY
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., scoffed at the connection to the administrations and contended that Trump has had “virtually no scrutiny for pardoning of convicted criminals.”
“There had been purely, starting with President Bush, a major bipartisan consensus that the terrorists who led to 9/11 needed to be eradicated that was explained to the public clearly,” he told Fox News Digital. “We’ve had no such explanation about what’s happening in the Caribbean.”
Broadly,
Senate Republicans
aren’t raising much of a stink about Trump’s strikes in the Caribbean, with many viewing it as a means to an end to stymieing the flow of drugs into the country.
“What happened is a bunch of bad guys with a bunch of drugs didn’t make it to America,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “That’s the long and short of it.”
But others believe that investigations into the details of what exactly happened in the double-tap strike are warranted, as they should have been during Obama’s tenure in office.
“Well, I’ll take it at face value,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. “Maybe there wasn’t, but there should have been. What else? You know, it’s like, because we failed to have scrutiny in that case, it doesn’t justify failing to have scrutiny in this case.”
