WATCH: Trump defends deadly strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in UN speech

By PBS NewsHour

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President Donald Trump defended U.S. military action in Venezuela and elsewhere in the world, saying his administration is reasserting American power where necessary to “create a safer future for all of us.” The U.S. president cited the dozens of U.S. strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. Although the Trump administration has said the strikes are meant to stop the flow of drugs, a UN report released Monday found that the attacks, which have killed more than 230 people so far, could amount to “crimes against humanity” under international law. Trump also cited the administration’s broader actions against cartel violence, including a strike that killed the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in June. “I designated the drug cartels as ‘foreign terrorist organizations’ and unleashed the United States Armed Forces to eliminate them,” Trump said, likening cartels to the “ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.” “Like ISIS, they should be kil