Rand Paul's been screaming "war crimes" for weeks over Trump's Venezuela boat strikes.
Democrats jumped on the bandwagon demanding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's resignation.
But Ron DeSantis just handed Trump the Venezuela defense he needed.
DeSantis Backs Trump's Aggressive Venezuela Operations
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended President Trump's controversial military strikes against Venezuelan drug boats during an exclusive interview with The Floridian this week.
Since September, the Trump administration has executed roughly 22 strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 87 people the administration claims were trafficking drugs into the United States.¹
Critics erupted after details emerged that a September 2 strike involved a "double-tap" attack that killed two survivors clinging to wreckage from the initial strike.²
Rand Paul led the charge calling the operations "illegal" and "extrajudicial killings."³
https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1998499851806671305?s=20
Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen demanded Hegseth resign, calling the attacks "beyond the pale."⁴
Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta went so far as to label the survivor killings a "war crime."⁵
Former Navy Lawyer Delivers Blunt Legal Assessment
DeSantis — who served as a U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General before entering politics — didn't mince words when asked about the strikes.
"I think that the U.S. has a right to treat it and engage it as a military threat, simply because we've seen over the last 10, 20 years, the amount of people that have been killed by cartels bringing drugs in to our country," DeSantis stated.⁶
The Governor pointed out that drug cartels have operated "with impunity for a long time" while killing tens of thousands of Americans annually.⁶
DeSantis zeroed in on the threshold legal question critics avoid: "Is it appropriate to say that somebody trying to enter your country with drugs that obviously can be deadly for people, do you have a right as Commander-in-Chief to repel that incursion in your country?"⁶
"And the answer to that is yes," DeSantis declared.⁶
https://twitter.com/Floridianpress/status/1999227548535062664?s=20
He argued the administration is correct in "treating the narco-terrorists as military targets, rather than treating it as a law-enforcement" matter.⁷
DeSantis Doubles Down On Immigration Crackdown
The Governor's Venezuela defense came as he announced support for Trump's immigration pause following last week's shooting of two National Guardsmen near the White House by an Afghan national.
Trump ordered a permanent pause on migration "from all Third World Countries" after the attack left one Guardsman dead.⁸
DeSantis backed the move without hesitation.
"I think that he's absolutely right to do what he's doing. You cannot bring people into this country who hate our country. Or who are incompatible culturally and are not able to be assimilated," DeSantis said.⁸
The Governor questioned why America would import "a bunch of people from that culture" after spending blood and treasure to depose the Taliban.⁸
DeSantis called out fellow Republicans who claim to oppose illegal immigration but support unlimited legal immigration regardless of cultural compatibility.
"Dumping people from Somalia in the country, is that something we should be doing? Is that positive for American families and Americans?" DeSantis asked.⁸
He slammed rallies in Dearborn, Michigan where protesters chant "death to America."
"You came over here, probably from a pretty crappy country. You get to grow up in the most successful country ever, and you're out there saying death to America?" DeSantis said. "No, actually, if you want death to America, go back over there and then say it all you want."⁸
DeSantis noted that naturalized citizens who violate their oath of allegiance "are absolutely subject to denaturalization and deportation."⁸
Critics Ignore The Fentanyl Body Count
What Paul and other critics conveniently ignore is the death toll drug cartels rack up on American soil.
Nearly 73,000 Americans died from synthetic opioid overdoses in 2023 — primarily from fentanyl trafficked through these same networks.⁹
Another 30,000 died from cocaine overdoses, often mixed with fentanyl.⁹
Trump designated drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in January 2025, declaring they "present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."¹⁰
The administration designated Tren de Aragua, MS-13, and multiple Mexican cartels under this framework.
A Harvard poll from October found 71% of Americans support destroying boats trafficking drugs from South America.¹¹
DeSantis gave Trump exactly what he needed — a credible legal defense from a former military lawyer who understands both the law and what's at stake.
The cartels have been killing Americans with impunity for decades.
Trump's finally treating them like the military threat they are.
And DeSantis just told critics crying "war crimes" to take a seat.
¹ "2025 United States military strikes on alleged drug traffickers," Wikipedia, accessed December 2025.
² Michelle Price and Stephanie Lai, "New details emerge about controversial Sept. 2 strike on alleged drug boat that killed survivors," ABC News, December 2025.
³ Scott Wong, "Sen. Rand Paul says Caribbean boat strikes 'go against all of our tradition,'" NBC News, October 2025.
⁴ Ewan Palmer, "Rand Paul Says Trump Boat Strikes 'Prelude To War' With Venezuela," The Daily Caller, December 2025.
⁵ Caitlin Yilek, "Trump's Venezuela boat strikes fuel war crimes allegations. Are they legal?" CBS News, November 2025.
⁶ Joseph Quesada, "DeSantis Praises Trump's Targeting of Criminal Drug Cartels, Supports Launching Attacks Within Venezuela," The Floridian, December 11, 2025.
⁷ Antonio Fins and Valentina Palm, "DeSantis, former Navy lawyer, backs treating boats as military targets," Palm Beach Post, December 10, 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ "Assessing the Facts and Legal Questions About the U.S. Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats," FactCheck.org, October 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
