The Biden administration's failures keep getting exposed.
And Tulsi Gabbard just connected the dots in a way that has Democrats scrambling.
Because Tulsi Gabbard just exposed one ugly truth about Joe Biden that Democrats wish she never said.
Record-breaking cocaine seizure shows Trump's different approach to border security
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stood aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone at Port Everglades this week next to 49,010 pounds of cocaine worth more than $362 million.
The haul represented the largest cocaine seizure by a single Coast Guard cutter in one patrol in history.
And Gabbard wasn't just there to celebrate the bust.
She was there to draw a direct line between Trump's leadership and results that Biden never came close to achieving.
"The success we are seeing today is what happens when we have a Commander in Chief who empowers leaders, Coast Guard men and women, service members across the force, intelligence analysts, and other professionals to do the job they signed up to do," Gabbard told reporters.¹
That last part about doing "the job they signed up to do" was a barely veiled shot at the Biden administration's hamstrung approach to drug interdiction.
The cocaine came from 15 separate interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Pacific Viper.
Trump's surge in counter-drug operations launched in August specifically to disrupt the flow of drugs that fuel cartels and contribute to fentanyl trafficking.
And the results speak for themselves — the Coast Guard intercepted approximately 225 tons of cocaine in the U.S. Southern Command area between October 2024 and October 2025, the best year ever for cocaine interdiction.²
Coast Guard Commanding Officer Captain Anne O'Connell explained how they stopped the smugglers cold.
"We used our armed helicopter to stop the vessels," O'Connell said. "We take the smugglers or presumed smugglers on board our ship as detainees, and then we confiscate the contraband, and then they are turned over either to Ecuador or their country of origin for prosecution."³
The majority of the cocaine flows out of Colombia and Ecuador.
https://twitter.com/USCGSoutheast/status/1991262701402612067?s=20
Biden's Coast Guard couldn't consistently stop drugs during his administration
The massive cocaine seizure under Trump stands in stark contrast to the Coast Guard's performance during Biden's tenure.
A Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report released in February found the Coast Guard "was not able to consistently interdict non-commercial vessels smuggling drugs into the U.S." from fiscal years 2021 through 2023.⁴
The audit examined the Coast Guard's drug trafficking operations across 95,000 miles of coastal waters and more than 300 ports.
Between fiscal 2021 and 2023 — predominantly during Biden's administration — the Coast Guard intercepted around 421 metric tons of cocaine.
That fell short of its goal of 690 metric tons by a massive margin.
The report found the Coast Guard didn't have enough cutter vessels to conduct the anti-drug mission.
And Biden's Coast Guard "did not have a contingency plan to address the cutters' unavailability."
"We found Coast Guard cutters were unavailable for 2,058 cumulative days over a 3-year period," the report stated.⁵
Even worse, the Coast Guard under Biden didn't accurately record interdictions.
A staggering 58% of counter-drug case files didn't contain seizure results and 68% didn't contain required documentation.
"Without addressing the issues identified in this report, the Coast Guard may be missing opportunities to meet target goals of removing cocaine and reducing the illicit flow of drugs coming into the country," the report concluded.⁶
Trump unleashed military power Biden refused to use
The contrast between Trump and Biden goes deeper than just Coast Guard performance.
Trump designated deadly drug cartels and transnational gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in his first week back in office.
That gave law enforcement entirely new powers to go after these criminal networks.
The Trump Administration designated Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Gulf Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the Michoacán Family as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Biden never took that step despite watching fentanyl and cocaine pour across the border and kill over 100,000 Americans per year during his presidency.
Trump also authorized unprecedented military strikes against suspected drug trafficking vessels.
Since September, the U.S. military has carried out more than 20 strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean that intelligence confirmed were trafficking drugs.
The strikes have eliminated more than 80 alleged drug traffickers.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to "find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens."⁷
Biden treated drug interdiction as a law enforcement issue handled primarily by the understaffed, under-resourced Coast Guard.
Trump unleashed the full power of the U.S. military to crush the cartels.
The results speak for themselves — record cocaine seizures, historic interdiction numbers, and a message sent to every cartel that their days of operating with impunity are over.
Gabbard's appearance at Port Everglades wasn't just about celebrating one massive drug bust.
It was about exposing the fundamental difference between a President who empowers his people to do their jobs and one who tied their hands while drugs flooded into America.
¹ Michelle Vecerina, "Tulsi Gabbard joins U.S. Coast Guard as Cutter Stone offloads massive $362M cocaine haul," FL Voice News, November 19, 2025.
² Maritime Executive, "US Coast Guard Reports Best Year Ever for Cocaine Interdiction," November 7, 2025.
³ Christina Vazquez, "Coast Guard offloads a record $362 million worth of cocaine at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale," CBS Miami, November 19, 2025.
⁴ Anders Hagstrom, "US Coast Guard, under Biden, failed to 'consistently' stop drug smuggling," Fox News, February 27, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Emily Goodykoontz, "U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats: What we know," NPR, November 17, 2025.
