Here’s an interesting theory – the reason Trump held his most recent press conference in the Oval Office is because he doesn’t think he can stand long enough to do it anywhere else:
That might also partially explain that absurdly long Cabinet meeting, where he got to sit for hours.
I don’t think I can stand it long enough just him being in office.
I got no dog in this fight - tho, given my druthers, I’d prefer to not live in a red state, even if in a blue oasis therein. BTW - my son and his cow-orkers were literally rocket scientists. 
So what is this admin doing over in Venezuela? It sure looks like they are killing people without due process.
Practice before trying this at home?
Garden-variety Casus Belli?
Murder in the high seas.
So all you have to do is make a claim that they are drug runners. Drug crimes don’t typically warrant a death penalty.
Fucking bastards, the whole fucking lot of them allowing this, or helping this happen in any way should get what they are giving.
Well, that’s a good question, because Trump, being as notoriously cheap as he is, and also having a hard on for hurting people he considers to be beneath him, has fucked the National Guard out of a lot of those benefits.
This has been bothering me since I heard about it. Not enough of a fuss has been made of this incident. The Trump administration swears that this was a drug boat, manned by eleven members of the Tren de Aragua gang and that it was packed with drugs. No other corroborating evidence was brought up – all we have is their word. But after Trump swore that three Iranian nuclear weapons facilities “completely and totally obliterated” – a claim contradicted by U.S. intelligence – why should we believe anything the administration says? Why, in fact, would a Venezuelan gang be running a boat packed with drugs on the Caribbean when they know the US is deploying ships and other capabilities in precisely that area? Considering that any supporting evidence has been blown up in this case, all we have is the administration’s word.
Apparently the usual procedure is to board and search suspected vessels in international waters, but I guess that wasn’t sufficiently dramatic. International law experts say that this was a violation of international law, even though the US is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Nevertheless, until now, the US has acted “in a manner consisten with its provisions”
Even if what the administration says is true, it’s still murder.
Being part of a gang and transporting drugs are not death penalty offenses, and even if they were it cannot be applied without a trial.
This is murder, pure and simple.
I’ll also note that they themselves can’t actually know, since they didn’t bother to verify their supposed beliefs; they just opened fire. So it’s an empty assertion at best, even if they actually believe what they are saying.
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is reporting that they had a “good faith reason to believe” that the skipper of the drug boat was Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
[/sarcasm]
IIRC, the fig leaf is that the gang has been deemed a terrorist organisation.
Are they getting any of that? AIUI, their orders are for twenty-nine day deployments, disqualifying them retirement point and housing allowance, at least.
Step 1: Declare anyone you don’t like a terrorist organization.
Step 2: Kill them with impunity.
I guess we should’ve known it was going to happen when the “War on Terror” eroded the last vestiges of international law and assumption of innocence.
You get no argument from me.
And piracy too.
Or it is fake, as the Venezuelan goverment claims: “The video was made with AI.” Well, maybe. The passengers seem very relaxed in a boat that is jumping up and down like crazy, but what do I know? The article is in a Spanish site, but it is just a video:
I don’t know, did they steal anything from the boat?
And they’re surprised?? Trump stiffs EVERYONE! Duh.