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On the 6th, the White House announced that President Trump has signed a new national counterterrorism strategy, making the fight against drug trafficking organizations in the Western Hemisphere a top priority.
According to the new counterterrorism strategy published on the White House website, other priority items include: combating and destroying five major extremist organizations, such as 'Al-Qaeda' and 'Islamic State'; identifying and eliminating violent political groups with anti-American or anarchist ideologies; preventing non-state actors from obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction.
In the foreword of the strategy report, Trump wrote: “We will never allow drug cartels, jihadists, or the governments that support them to endanger our citizens. No kind of terrorist can find safe haven at home, nor attack us from abroad.”
He stated that the new US counterterrorism strategy is a return to common sense and seeking peace through strength.
White House National Security Council Senior Director for Counterterrorism Gorka pointed out that the strategy first aims to eliminate terrorist threats in the Western Hemisphere by weakening the operations of drug trafficking organizations, so that they can no longer bring drugs, members, or trafficking victims into the US.
Gorka said that since World War II, more Americans have died from drugs shipped into the US by drug trafficking organizations than in all conflicts involving US military personnel worldwide.
He noted that US government officials will meet with allies later this week to discuss how to strengthen and implement the new counterterrorism strategy.
Since early September 2025, US forces have conducted multiple strikes on so-called “drug trafficking boats” in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific, and on November 13 of that year, announced the launch of military operation “Southern Spear.” According to US media reports, US attacks on so-called “drug trafficking boats” have resulted in at least 191 deaths.