Trump secretly prepares military action against drug cartels – NYT –The U.S. administration had already designated certain Latin American drug cartels as “terrorist groups” | 8 Aug 2025 | U.S. President Donald Trump has secretly ordered the Pentagon to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels previously labeled “terrorist organizations,” The New York Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The new presidential directive provides an official basis for the use of the U.S. military in operations against cartels at sea and on foreign soil. The Pentagon has already started drawing up options the military could use in going after such organizations, the sources told the NYT. It was not immediately clear what the White House, Pentagon, and State Department lawyers said about the directive, the newspaper noted. The suspected cartel members still count as civilians, and their potential elimination by the military raises various legal issues.