Trump Pledges To Replicate His Caribbean Strategy With Strikes on Somali Pirates

President Trump is threatening to replicate his Caribbean strategy with military strikes on pirates off the coast of Somalia. During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Mr. Trump said that his administration has “notified” pirates from Somalia that “anybody [that] does that gets the same treatment as a drug dealer sending their drugs in from Venezuela.”The administration’s list of targets now includes “the Somali pirates that go out on a boat — similar type boat, actually, not quite as fast, not quite as nice — but they get the same missile that we give to the people that are bringing drugs,” he said.Last year, Mr. Trump directed strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean, killing nearly 130 people accused of engaging in “narco-terrorism.”Mr. Trump justified the use of force on the grounds that America was in an “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America. However, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress questioned the president’s authority to carry out the strikes, as well as whether the targets were actually engaged in “narco-terrorism.”While Congress has failed to pass legislation to restrict Mr. Trump’s military actions in the Caribbean, the president warned earlier this month that such strikes might start happening off the coast of Africa.At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump said the pirating “has essentially stopped,” since he delivered his message. “They know that if anybody even makes a move toward a ship, they get the ultimate treatment. They will go to wherever they want to go, but it’s probably not going to be to heaven.”Mr. Trump’s comments come months after pirates off the coast of Somalia successfully boarded a commercial vessel. The UK Maritime Trade Operations said in November that “unauthorised personnel” firing rocket-propelled grenades had boarded a Malta-flagged vessel. The attack marked the first time in 18 months that a commercial vessel was boarded in the region and sparked fears of a resurgence of piracy, which had decreased significantly since 2011, when there were more than 200 pirate attacks reported near Somalia. A Spanish frigate caught up with the ship, and special forces rescued its crew members. Officials said that an “early show of force” drove the pirates from the vessel.Mr. Trump insisted that since he issued his warning to the pirates, “We haven’t seen anybody going out.”“The traffic is not being interfered with by people pirating,” Mr. Trump said. “I said, ‘Make it for any country, we’re doing the world a favor.’ And it’s a very effective favor, but we see very little pirating nowadays.”Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized Somalia, questioning whether it is even a country. Late last year, he lashed out at the Somali community in America as reports of widespread fraud in Minnesota emerged. In a prominent fraud case involving the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, 89 percent of the defendants were Somali Americans. During a press conference on the anniversary of the beginning of his second term, Mr. Trump said that Somalia is “probably the worst” country in the world and the “only thing they’re good at is pirating ships at sea.”

Trump Pledges To Replicate His Caribbean Strategy With Strikes on Somali Pirates

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