Top Democrat Believes Trump Boat Strikes Have Targeted Drug-Runners

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Washington, as from left, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) said on Wednesday that he believes that the controversial strikes ordered by President Donald Trump on ships operating in the Pacific Ocean have indeed targeted drug-runners.

“I think our intelligence assets are quite good,” said Warner after a briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. According to CNN, Warner conceded that ” he believes the administration does have ‘visibility’ into the transport of illegal drugs.”

Nevertheless, Warner still expressed his disapproval over the lack of information the Trump administration has provided about the strikes, arguing  that “The notion on the kinetic strikes, without actually interdicting and demonstrating to the American public that these are carrying drugs and they’re full of bad guys, I think, is a huge mistake and undermines the confidence in the administration’s actions.”

Last week, Warner expressed his fury after Democrats on the Intelligence Committee were excluded from a briefing on the strikes:

If you’re sitting in this room getting clearly what had been prior Gang-of-Eight-level classified information, didn’t somebody raise their hand and say, “Well, holy crap, where are the Democrats?”

[…]

We got a ham-handed, “Oh, maybe you’re right. Whatever.”

I say bulls***.

As of Tuesday, the U.S. had conducted 16 different strikes, killing 67 people.

“Every boat that we knock out we save 25,000 American lives so every time you see a boat and you feel badly you say, ‘Wow, that’s rough;’ It is rough, but if you lose three people and save 25,000 people,” claimed Trump himself while defending the operations last month.