Kelly Joins Kaine, Colleagues in Pressing for Answers from Trump Administration on Strike in Caribbean

Today, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and 23 other senators in pressing the Trump administration for answers regarding the U.S. military strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea that reportedly killed all 11 passengers on board on September 2, 2025. The administration has yet to provide Congress or the American people with any legitimate legal justification for the strike, or any evidence to support its claims regarding the basis for this strike or the future strikes it has threatened to launch across the region.

"On September 2, 2025, the U.S. military at your direction struck a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, hundreds of miles from the United States and reportedly killing all 11 individuals onboard. Your Administration has asserted, without evidence, that the individuals on the vessel and the vessel's cargo posed a threat to the United States," wrote the senators.

The senators continued, "This strike followed press reports in early August that your Administration had secretly signed a directive for the use of U.S. military force across Latin America - despite the lack of any legal basis for such use of military force."

In the letter, the senators ask President Donald Trump for answers regarding the legality of the strike, the intelligence that led the Administration to strike the vessel, the rationale for striking the vessel rather than conducting a standard interdiction operation, and the Administration's threats to launch additional illegal lethal military strikes in the Caribbean and across the Hemisphere.

In addition to Kelly and Kaine, the letter was signed by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Click here to read the full letter.