President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict," according to a new memo to Congress.

The White House has notified Congress that President Trump has designated individuals involved in drug smuggling and cartel activities in the Caribbean as unlawful combatants, officially categorizing the broader drug war as an armed conflict. This designation follows recent military strikes against boats suspected of drug smuggling, resulting in fatalities among those on board.

White House officials clarified that this is not a new policy but rather a legal justification for the recent actions. Experts note that defining the drug war as an armed conflict allows for expanded military powers, including the ability to target individuals without imminent threat, detain suspects indefinitely without trial, and prosecute them in military courts. The administration states this move aligns with the president's commitment to combat cartels and address national security threats.

Trump declares drug cartels operating in Caribbean unlawful combatants

What do we know about this new change and how the Trump administration is combating drug smuggling and drug cartels? Yeah, this just came in within the last few minutes. Scripps News confirming that the White House sent a memo to Congress informing them that the president has designated people involved in drug smuggling, drug cartels as, quote, unlawful combatants and that the broader drug war is now, quote, an armed conflict. Now, White House officials stressing that this is not necessarily a new policy. It's going back to some of those strikes we saw against boats that were alleged to be involved in drug smuggling activities in the Caribbean last month. This is sort of the legal justification that they have to provide Congress for why they struck. We know of at least three strikes that took place, killing everyone on board in those on those boats. But experts on this would say that this is a pretty significant escalation of the president's crackdown on drugs and drug smuggling. Defining the war on drugs as a, quote, armed conflict means that a country can kill enemy fighters even when they pose no imminent threat, detain them indefinitely without trials and even prosecute them in military courts. So, again, you see this statement from the White House here suggesting that this is just the president delivering on his promise to take out cartels and eliminate national security threats. Certainly something that's developing just a few moments ago. So we'll continue to report on it and bring you anything back. More that we learn, Maritza. All right. White House producer and reporter Jacob Garden Swords. Thank you so much.

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