Vice President J.D. Vance went after notorious anti-Trump activist Brian Krassenstein following the administration’s drone strike on a Venezuelan drug trafficking boat.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that U.S. forces had destroyed the vessel, which belonged to the Tren de Aragua street gang.
“We literally shot out a boat — a drug-carrying boat,” Trump said from the Oval Office.
According to the White House, the ship was loaded with narcotics and armed traffickers linked to the Venezuelan regime. Officials described the strike as part of a broader U.S. buildup in the region.
In recent months, Washington has sent Aegis destroyers, an amphibious squadron, and a nuclear submarine to waters near Venezuela. The operation is backed by P-8 surveillance planes, helicopters, Tomahawk-capable platforms, and roughly 4,000 to 4,500 personnel.
Despite the show of force, critics on the left immediately attacked the move. Some Democrats and liberal pundits accused Trump of overstepping his authority and carrying out an “illegal” action.
Krassenstein, who has built a reputation as an anti-Trump social media agitator, joined in.
Responding to one of Vance’s posts on X, he blasted the decision as a human rights violation, per Trending Politics.
“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vance had written.
Krassenstein fired back, “Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.”
Vance did not hold back. “I don’t give a sh*t what you call it,” he replied in a viral post.
Krassenstein was not the only voice raising objections. Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware and senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, claimed he was never briefed. “Disturbing,” Coons said.
That claim was disputed. Senator Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican who also serves on the committee, said he had in fact been briefed about the strikes.
Some Democrats broke from the critics.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) voiced support for Trump’s actions.
“Fully support confronting the scourge of cartel drug trafficking to our nation,” Fetterman said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision in strong terms. He confirmed that strikes against Venezuelan drug-trafficking organizations — formally designated as terrorist groups — would continue.
“The president of the United States has determined that narco-terrorist organizations pose a threat to the national security of the United States. I don’t need to explain to you why,” Rubio said.
“These are not stockbrokers. These are not real estate agents who, on the side, deal a few drugs. These are organized, corporate, structured organizations who specialize in the trafficking of deadly drugs into the United States of America,” Rubio added.
He emphasized that past policies were too weak. “Because these drug cartels, what they do is they know they’re going to lose 2% of their cargo — they bake it into their economics. What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them.”
The administration signaled it is prepared to escalate. With forces positioned off Venezuela and the Tren de Aragua directly in the crosshairs, Trump’s team says the crackdown will not stop.
