President Donald Trump has been caught in a lie after going back on a decision to release a video showing the controversial US military strike on a Venezuelan boat that allegedly was trafficking drugs into the United States. Going back on a decision is fine, but Trump is going further by even claiming that he never said he would release the clip.
The Trump administration came in with a very strong posture against drug traffickers. The president has done it all: he has threatened to punish neighbors with tariffs, has gotten into an all-out war of words with South American presidents, and now he’s caught up in a web of deception about why and how he’s been bombing narco ships in the Caribbean.
Reportedly, on Sep. 2, US special operation forces struck a Venezuelan vessel that their intel had concluded was being used in the Caribbean Sea to ship drugs into the US by circumventing the areas beyond the jurisdiction of the US Coast Guard. That is the part that most people — even Trump’s critics — don’t disagree with. Some Democratic lawmakers believe that Trump would have rather arrested the perpetrators and arraigned them in court.
The president actually released a quick 30-second clip on the operation. The clip showed overhead drone footage of the alleged Venezuelan vessel trafficking drugs being blown up by a missile. While four people died immediately upon impact, reportedly two people survived the attack and clung to the wreckage. But that’s where the clip ends.
There was a second strike, however. According to the Washington Post, the Secretary of Defense — now Secretary of War — issued a directive to the drone operators saying “kill them all.” Now critics are understandably calling this second strike a war crime — and on Dec. 3, Trump was asked by a reporter whether he could release the clip and clear everything up. Trump said that is not a problem. And now, barely a week later, he is discrediting journalists for trying to make him live up to his word.
On X, users were not too thrilled by Trump’s approach to this very credible question by the press. One user didn’t even take this latest Trump misinformation to heart — they just wondered whether this was yet another sign of mental decline. Another user wanted the president to be called out for this online by the press. There’s always a fear that Trump gets away with more than the usual politician, and it’s hard to argue with that because a politician being caught in a lie used to be a big deal.
I wish a journalist would ask a Maga senator or congressperson is Donald Trump a liar or is he losing his mental capacity?
— Bobby Squinch (@BobbySquinch) December 8, 2025
So now he can just
— JaneAust100 (@aust1816) December 8, 2025deny something he said on tape, on the record only a few days ago – and still he’s not called out on it.
Within MAGA, there is always a sense of belief in Trump’s intentions. He’s seen as a figure that has unorthodox ways of getting things done. The logic is, the regular ways didn’t get it done, so let’s try something new. But there’s a reason people stopped using extrajudicial killings to solve crimes in the civilized world.
The thing about violence is it doesn’t end with whatever was initially convenient. Violence inspires. And once a suspicion of drug dealing is resolved with death, then suddenly killing over political differences becomes just as valid. And that’s what this administration’s critics are warning of.
