While addressing U.S. soldiers on the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan, President Donald Trump remarked on Tuesday that efforts to intercept drug shipments in the Caribbean have been so effective that, in his words, “there are no more ships to be found” carrying drugs.
He also made a comment regarding Pete Hegseth, saying, “He was previously our Secretary of Defense, and now he is proudly known as our Secretary of the Army.” Hegseth is associated with the USS George Washington during Trump’s address.
Trump described Hegseth as “very happy right now,” stating, “No more drug ships. No more ships to be found. No more ships loaded with drugs. It’s like he was an incredible person. So, thank you so much, Pete. You gave up so much. We’re grateful. Thank you.”
Furthermore, Trump explained that changing Hegseth’s title to “Secretary of the Army” was part of a broader initiative from his administration to eliminate political correctness in military matters.
“When it comes to defending America, we’re no longer politically correct. We’re going to defend our country in any way necessary, and that’s usually not the politically correct way,” he added.
The U.S. military initiated its operations against drug trafficking in September. This week, under Trump’s directive, a significant military strike was conducted, resulting in the destruction of four vessels suspected of drug trafficking off the coast of Colombia.
According to Hegseth, “A total of 14 narco-terrorists were killed in the three attacks, with one survivor. All attacks took place in international waters and there were no casualties to U.S. forces.”
Hegseth expressed a firm stance, declaring, “The Department of Defense has spent more than 20 years defending other homelands. Now we are defending our own. These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al Qaeda, and they will receive the same treatment. We will track them, we will network, and we will hunt them down and kill them.”
Since the beginning of these operations in September, at least 14 vessels have been destroyed, with a total of 57 casualties reported, including those from Monday’s incidents. Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen criticized Trump’s actions, labeling them as “illegal” and “extrajudicial killing.”
Van Hollen mentioned, “Even if you have evidence, if you’re serious about cracking down on these things, you think you’re going to arrest these people and go upstream and go after the key players,” though he didn’t clarify how those arrests would occur without potentially requiring large-scale military operations in various Latin American nations.
