Donald Trump called the media to the Oval Office on Tuesday and, among other announcements, confirmed that the United States had attacked a drug-laden ship that had departed Venezuela in recent hours. The"lethal attack" came amid rising tensions between his administration and the Nicolás Maduro regime.

"When you walk out and when you leave the room, you'll see that in the last few minutes we literally just shot down a drug ship. There were a lot of drugs on that ship. You'll be seeing that and you'll be reading about that," Trump told reporters.

"It just happened a few moments ago," the US president emphasized."Our great general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has been so incredible, including what happened in Iran, taking out a potential nuclear power for a long time. I think they would have had it in a month if we hadn't done what we did," he added.

He continued with his announcement about drugs, which, the magnate said, are coming heavily from Venezuela.

"We've had a lot of drugs coming into our country for a long time. They came from Venezuela and are coming very heavily from Venezuela. A lot of things are coming out of Venezuela. So we eliminated that, and you'll be able to see that after this meeting is over," he concluded.

Minutes later, Marco Rubio posted a message giving a detail: where the attack took place.

Donald Trump announced the attack on a drug-laden ship from Venezuela. Photo: Reuters

"The President of the United States just announced moments ago that today the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug vessel departing Venezuela and operated by a designated narcoterrorist organization," the Secretary of State wrote.

And later, Trump posted a message on his Truth Social network. He said that this morning he ordered U.S. military forces to carry out an attack"against positively identified Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists in the Southern Command area of responsibility." He detailed that Tren de Aragua is a "designated Foreign Terrorist Organization operating under the control of Nicolás Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terrorism in the United States and the Western Hemisphere."

Regarding the attack, he said it took place while"the terrorists were in international waters transporting illegal narcotics bound for the United States. The attack resulted in the . No member of the United States Armed Forces was injured in this attack."

And he concluded: "Please let this serve as a warning to anyone considering importing drugs into the United States. BE CAREFUL! Thank you for your attention!"

On Monday, Maduro responded to the deployment of US warships near Venezuelan territorial waters for anti-drug maneuvers.

"If Venezuela were attacked, it would immediately enter a period of armed struggle in defense of the national territory, the history, and the people of Venezuela," said the leader of the Chavista regime.