00:00Breaking moments ago, the Trump administration says it is now engaged in, quote, armed conflict with drug cartels.
00:06That's according to a memo to Congress that was obtained by Fox News.
00:10Our Peter Doocy has got more on the breaking news live from the White House.
00:13Peter, I assume this is in response to the criticisms that have been leveled at the present for taking out those drug boats.
00:20Yes, and John, those criticisms come from Democratic lawmakers who say they are concerned that these cartel members,
00:26cartel, drug boat captains are not getting due process before a bomb drops on their head.
00:33President Trump and his team do not seem moved one bit by that, and so they drafted this memo making this official to Congress.
00:40Part of it says, based upon the cumulative effects of these hostile acts against the citizens and interests of the United States and friendly foreign nations,
00:47the president is determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations.
00:55The president directed the Department of War to conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict.
01:02And the president just talked about this this week.
01:06If you try to poison our people, we will blow you out of existence, because that's the only language they really understand.
01:15That's why you don't see any more boats on the ocean.
01:18You don't see any boats.
01:19Around Venezuela, there's nothing.
01:21And it's not just Venezuela.
01:23The president's team is putting out the word that cartels throughout the Caribbean are now on notice.
01:30We in the in the U.N. Security Council just took action yesterday on the gangs that have taken over Haiti right off Florida's shores.
01:38These gangs are in coordination with all of these transnational groups.
01:42They're shipping drugs, money, weapons.
01:45They're destabilizing the entire region.
01:48This is a president, of course, Donald Trump, who emphasizes his desire to keep the United States out of new wars.
01:56This memo seems like a legal designation so that they can keep dropping bombs.
02:01No U.S. troops involved on the ground.
02:03John.
02:04So they have been designated foreign terrorist organizations, same as ISIS, same as al Qaeda.
02:09Obama was taking out ISIS leaders with drones.
02:13So is this any different?
02:15Not on paper.
02:17And I remember on January 20th when President Trump was naming these cartels terrorist organizations,
02:22I asked him if that meant that he was going to start ordering special forces raids across the border or in places in South America.
02:29And he said that stranger things have happened.
02:31Things have been happening, John.
02:33They certainly have.
02:35No question about that.
02:36Peter Doocy with the update from the White House.
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