Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., offered an unequivocal endorsement of the Trump administration’s expanded military operations targeting narcotics-trafficking vessels, telling Newsmax [1] on Wednesday that he supports the actions “150%” and believes they are necessary to protect American lives.
Gimenez, who serves on both the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, made the remarks during an interview on “Wake Up America.”
He said he has “zero problem” with the administration’s decision to destroy suspected drug-smuggling boats operating near Venezuela, describing the traffickers as “narco-terrorists” whose shipments fuel an epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
“I support them 150%,” Gimenez said. “That boatload has more potential to kill more Americans than a boatload full of explosives.”
During the interview, Gimenez said fentanyl and cocaine trafficking constitutes an ongoing war being waged against the United States.
He argued that the federal government has not treated the threat with the seriousness it deserves and that decisive military action is long overdue.
With more than half a million overdose deaths in recent years, he said it is time for Washington to “take the war to them.”
Gimenez also criticized Democrats who have attacked Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over recent strikes, including allegations that Hegseth committed a war crime by authorizing a second strike after an initial hit left a suspected smuggling vessel burning at sea.
Gimenez rejected the allegations as politically motivated.
“It’s OK if [then-] President [Barack] Obama did it, but now they’re calling this a war crime?” he said. “It’s a double standard.”
Gimenez compared current criticism of Hegseth to the relative silence from Democrats during the Obama-era drone operations, which at times targeted American citizens who had joined terrorist groups overseas.
¡ !
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Congresista Estadounidense Carlos Giménez:
“Estos narcoterroristas de Venezuela han matado a cientos de miles de estadounidenses, muchos más que Al-Qaeda”. pic.twitter.com/of1SaWDPEo [2]
— ¡DIFUNDELO YA! (@DIFUNDELOYA) December 3, 2025 [3]
He argued that if those actions were not met with similar condemnation, the current criticism lacks credibility.
According to Gimenez, Hegseth was fulfilling his responsibility to neutralize a narcotics shipment capable of inflicting more deaths on Americans than terrorist attacks carried out by ISIS or al-Qaida.
He added that military leaders must have the authority to complete their missions when confronting armed traffickers operating under unstable foreign regimes.
“I’m not going to second-guess an admiral destroying a boat full of narco-terrorists,” Gimenez said. “The number one job of government is to protect its people.”