Politics
WATCH: GOP Senator Compares Trump To China, Iran For Drug Boat Strikes
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) escalated his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump on Sunday by likening the commander in chief to authoritarian governments in China and Iran for authorizing strikes on drug-trafficking boats bound for the United States.
The self-styled libertarian Senator — a close ally of Rep. Thomas Massie, a fellow Kentucky lawmaker who is currently facing a Trump-backed primary challenger — has accused Trump of violating the constitution by authorizing the strikes, which have targeted drug trafficking organizations that have been designated as terrorist.
While speaking with Fox News on Sunday, Paul was asked whether he or any of his colleagues had received a briefing on the strikes from the administration.
“You know, it’s not so much about a briefing, but we haven’t had a briefing. To be clear, we’ve gotten no information. I’ve been invited to no briefing. But a briefing is not enough to overcome the Constitution,” the senator said.
“The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it. And during a war, then, there’s a lower rules for engagement. People do sometimes get killed without due process. But the drug war or the war or the crime war has typically been something we do through law enforcement. And so far, they have alleged that these people are drug dealers.”
Paul went on to compare President Trump to some of the most authoritarian governments on earth. “No one said their name. No one said what evidence. No one said whether they’re armed. And we’ve had no evidence presented. So at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings. And this is akin to what China does, to what Iran does with drug dealers. They summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public. So it’s wrong.”
The War Department has confirmed a number of strikes targeting mostly drag traffickers belonging to groups like Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan street gang with documented links to the Venezuelan government. Early into his second term in office, President Trump designated the group and several others as foreign terrorist organizations, opening the door for aggressive enforcement operations.
For Senator Paul, his staunch defense of foreign drug traffickers marks the latest entry in his escalating feud with the Trump Administration. He previously refused to support the Trump-backed spending package, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which contained a number of the president’s most important campaign promises, including a massive increase in border security funding, extension of 2017 tax credits and more.
He has, however, told the president to “work something out” with Senate Democrats during the ongoing government shutdown after refusing to back the Big Beautiful Bill.
