Vice President JD Vance is defending the Trump administration’s use of military force against suspected drug traffickers — while acknowledging the “due process concerns” that earned him a rebuke from a fellow Republican.
Vance said in an interview Tuesday he believes the U.S. should treat drug traffickers as if they’re combatants in a war, defending the administration’s military strike on a vessel off Venezuela.
“I think the rules of engagement should be similar to what they are in war, because we are, in fact, in a war against these drug cartels,” Vance told One America News.
Vance addressed criticism from Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who criticized the vice president for endorsing the killing of the people on the boat without any kind of judicial process, and then dismissing concerns about human rights.
“I understand the concerns about due process, I understand some of the criticisms that have been raised, but this is not a situation where we can send the Navy SEALs into these places, arrest them and give them a proper civil trial or criminal trial,” Vance said in the interview.
The president announced Sept. 2 that the U.S. conducted an airstrike against a suspected drug boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing 11 people. Vance defended it at the time as “the highest and best use of our military” while dismissing accusations the strike amounted to a war crime.
Vance’s earlier comments drew the ire of the Libertarian-leaning Paul, who questioned the lack of due process for the suspected drug traffickers killed in the strike and called Vance’s comments “a despicable and thoughtless sentiment.”
Legal experts have questioned the legal basis for the strike and have warned about the precedent it sets for future actions against suspected criminals outside the country. Democrats have joined Paul in raising concerns over the legality of the strike.
Despite a long history of isolationism, Vance has inched toward a more aggressive foreign policy approach since taking office alongside Trump. He has become a key messenger for some of the president’s high-profile foreign policy actions, including the U.S. strike on Iran and the efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
