Marco Rubio Fires Back at European Demands as U.S. Expands Deadly Strikes on Narco-Terrorist Vessels [WATCH]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed criticism from European and United Nations officials this week as the United States continued military operations targeting narco-terrorist vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.

The response followed an announcement from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who detailed the latest U.S. strikes conducted under the direction of President Donald Trump, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.

On November 10, Hegseth wrote on X, “At the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and were transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route in the Eastern Pacific. Both strikes were conducted in international waters, and three male narco-terrorists were aboard each vessel. All six were killed. No U.S. forces were harmed. Under President Trump, we are protecting the homeland and killing these cartel terrorists who wish to harm our country and its people.”

Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.

These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and… pic.twitter.com/ocUoGzwwDO

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 10, 2025

The strikes added to an expanding campaign launched in mid-August, when the United States deployed Navy warships and personnel as part of a major counter-narcotrafficking effort.

President Trump announced on September 2, 2025, that the Navy had carried out its first airstrike in the Caribbean on a vessel from Venezuela, killing eleven people on board.

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As of November 10, U.S. forces have conducted nineteen strikes on twenty vessels, resulting in at least seventy-six deaths.

International criticism grew this week. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the strikes violate international law and constitute “extrajudicial killings.”

He argued the United States has not demonstrated that the individuals on the vessels posed an imminent threat to life and urged a return to law enforcement-based interdiction.

At the CELAC-EU summit in Colombia, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reiterated that the use of force is permitted only in self-defense or with a UN mandate.

Leaders including Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Mexico’s Juan Ramon de la Fuente, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and European Council President António Costa echoed concerns, with Petro labeling the deaths “extrajudicial executions.”

The criticism came despite ongoing instability and documented narco-trafficking ties in the region. Colombia experienced significant political violence in 2023 and 2024, including more than thirty-four political killings during the 2024 election cycle.

On October 24, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned four Colombian nationals for their roles in the illicit drug trade: President Gustavo Petro, First Lady Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia, Nicolás Fernando Petro Burgos, and Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti Villaneda.

During a press conference, Rubio rejected European objections to the operations.

“I don’t think that the European Union gets to determine what international law is,” he said.

“They certainly don’t get to determine how the United States defends national security.”

Rubio said the United States is confronting organized criminal and narco-terrorist groups operating in the Western Hemisphere and that President Trump is acting to protect the country.

Rubio also noted what he described as inconsistent expectations among American allies.

He said European governments have asked the United States for “nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles” to bolster their defenses, yet object to U.S. naval deployments in its own region.

He added that the President’s position is clear: “His job is to protect the United States from threats against the United States, and that is what he’s doing in this operation.”

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