Trump declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants, putting the U.S. in armed conflict with them.

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Trump sent Congress a classified notification in early October stating the U.S. is in "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, designating cartel members as "unlawful combatants." This legal framework—borrowed from the War on Terror—allows killing suspects without arrest, trial, or judicial review. The notification invokes war powers without congressional authorization for war. Legal scholars told the New York Times this appears to violate both U.S. law (which treats drug trafficking as crime) and international law (which prohibits extrajudicial killings outside actual armed conflict).

Trump declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants, putting the U.S. in armed conflict with them.

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