GOP lawmakers rally behind Trump’s Venezuela strikes as critics question legality

As U.S. warships strike suspected drug-smuggling boats off Venezuela, critics call the Trump administration’s campaign illegal under international law — a charge supporters dismiss as irrelevant to America’s security.

While international law helps create legal, technical or even moral consensus, it is powerless to restrain President Donald Trump’s decision to attack vessels the administration sees as threats to the U.S.

Since September, the Trump administration has destroyed several boats off the coast of Venezuela, eliminating what it described as narco-trafficking operations. 

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Last week, Volker Türk, the United Nations commissioner for human rights, blasted those strikes.

“Based on the very sparse information provided publicly by the U.S. authorities, none of the individuals on the targeted boats appear to pose an imminent threat to the lives of others or otherwise justified the use of lethal armed force against them under international law,” Türk said.

But even if the strikes do violate international law, some U.S. lawmakers don’t believe that should stop the president. 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued the U.S. must prioritize its own security.

“We’re not going to subject our sovereignty to international bodies. We’re going to make our decision — what’s in the best interest for the United States,” Cornyn said.

“[International law] is more of a convention. Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” he added.

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Over in the House, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., echoed Cornyn’s thinking.

“President Trump, as Commander in Chief, has an inherent constitutional authority under Article II to defend America’s national security interests and protect American lives. The cartels we are targeting have been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and hold real responsibility for the deadly fentanyl crisis that since 2021 has claimed more American lives than all our service members lost in combat since World War II,” Issa said. 

Julian Ku, faculty director of international programs at Hofstra University, said international law helps build and maintain norms but has little enforcement power. 

“International law governs the relations between nation states. And it takes the form of agreements, treaties and also customary agreements about how countries will handle certain problems,” Ku said. “For instance, how far off the coast does international waters begin? That’s actually been developed by custom to 12 nautical miles and later ratified in treaties.” 

“If there are two governments, neither government is in charge of the other, so we need a set of rules for those governments to work together,” Ku said. “The United States is often trying to get other countries to follow certain rules. Usually it’s easier to do that if you’re seen as following the rules. The theory of international law is that it’s better for everyone if they cooperate more than constantly fight.” 

Ku explained that extends to topics like human rights abuses. 

Despite a lack of power from international law to meaningfully restrain the U.S., other lawmakers expressed concern that the Trump administration hasn’t provided more justification for its attacks. Meeks and other Democrats have called Trump’s attacks “extrajudicial,” demanding more information from the administration on its justification for its strikes. 

When asked about the strikes, a spokesperson for Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., referred Fox News Digital to a statement he made following a closed-door briefing on Venezuela. Meeks serves as the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The briefing was incredible — incredible for how little information was shared, how little time the briefers stayed to answer questions, and how completely absent any credible legal rationale was for the administration’s unauthorized, ongoing expansion of these strikes,” Meeks wrote.

“The American people deserve transparency and accountability and the truth about what their government is doing in their name,” he said.

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The Trump administration earlier this year designated several drug cartels operating in and out of Venezuela as terrorist organizations. In the public-facing information about its most recent strike, U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth identified the targets as fitting under that designation. 

“This vessel — like EVERY OTHER — was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters,” Hegseth said in a post to X.

The U.S. has launched at least 15 such strikes.

In order to assist with the strikes, the president has repositioned one of the country’s aircraft carriers, the USS Gerald R. Ford, closer to Venezuela. Despite the mobilization, Trump told CBS’ “60 Minutes” he does not anticipate a war with Venezuela.