US ambassador warns Haitian gangs: ‘We’re going to go on offense’

In an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz indicated that the Trump administration is considering offensive action against some of the gang elements that currently control large portions of Haiti. Waltz said the United Nations Security Council has approved “a mandate and rules of engagement to go on offense against these gangs.”

‘Unlike the past, we’re going to go on offense.’

The U.N. approved a “Gang Suppression Force” on September 30 in an attempt to increase support for Haitian forces working to combat the gangs and support infrastructure in the country. Waltz stressed the importance of combatting these gangs as part of the Trump administration’s wider efforts against criminal elements in the Caribbean.

“These gangs are in coordination with all of these transnational groups. They’re shipping drugs, money, weapons. They’re destabilizing the entire region,” Waltz said.

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Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The U.N. has been involved in security in Haiti since 2023, when 400 Kenyan police officers were sent to the country in an effort to support police operations and secure critical infrastructure. Since then, things have gotten worse, with gangs now controlling around 90% of the capital city of Port-au-Prince and over 13,000 people killed by gang violence since 2023.

This new U.N. resolution will increase the number of U.N. personnel to just over 5,500 and will include military as well as police presence. The real difference, however, is a shift in focus from defense and protection to proactive measures to combat gang activity.

Under the new resolution, U.N. forces are cleared to conduct “intelligence-led targeted, counter-gang operations to neutralize, isolate, and deter gangs that continue to threaten the civilian population.” Ambassador Waltz summed it up by saying, “Unlike the past, we’re going to go on offense.”

This move is the latest by the Trump administration to target international criminal activity throughout the Caribbean region. In February, President Trump designated certain drug cartels as international terrorist organizations. In September, the U.S. Navy deployed a task force to the South Caribbean, forcing cartels to shift their activity to overland routes. So far, the U.S. military has carried out four lethal strikes on cartel ships reportedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean.

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