President Donald Trump has asserted that he retains the authority to conduct military strikes against suspected drug traffickers abroad without needing Congress to formally declare war.

“I’m not necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war,” Trump stated.

“I believe we’re just going to eliminate those who are bringing drugs into our country. They’ll be dealt with decisively,” he added.

Trump’s comments emerged as he hinted at plans for his administration to target individuals identified as cartel members in countries like Venezuela. This would be in addition to ongoing efforts to intercept suspected drug shipments in international waters.

The President mentioned that he would inform Congress prior to initiating any ground operations, though he expressed confidence that the plan would not encounter significant opposition from lawmakers.

“We’re going to proceed. I don’t foresee any drawbacks in consulting with Congress,” Trump remarked.

“We’re going to tell them what we’re going to do and I think they’ll probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics.”

The lethal strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and east Pacific have unnerved some American politicians, given the little evidence the administration has presented proving that the targets were so-called narco-terrorists.

On Thursday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted that the military has confirmed that each targeted boat is trafficking drugs. Still, he defended the decision to return two survivors of a recent strike as “standard” practice in war.

“Compared to Iraq and Afghanistan, the vast majority of people that we captured on the battlefield we handed over to the home country,” he said, referencing the US’ wars in the Middle East.

“So in this case, those two, they were treated by American medics and handed immediately over to their countries where they came from.”

Trump’s remarks come as an American B-1 Lancer bomber flew near the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, although the president denied that the US sent the B-1 bomber.

“No, it’s not accurate. No. It’s false. But we’re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons. Drugs being one of them, but also they’ve been sending their prisoners into our country for years under the Biden administration, not anymore, we have a closed border,” Trump said.

The aircraft first appeared on flight-tracking dashboards south-west of the Dallas Fort Worth area on Thursday and at its closest point was a little more than 90km from the Venezuelan mainland.

About nine hours later, open-source flight data showed the bomber reappearing for around 15 minutes within Venezuela’s flight information region (FIR) – an area where air traffic control is provided by Venezuelan authorities.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the plane — which was accompanied by a second aircraft during its appearance in the FIR — entered Venezuelan airspace.

CNN has reached out to the US Defence Department for comment.

The flight comes as tensions continue to rise between the two countries following the deployment of US warships to the Caribbean on what Washington has said is part of a counter-drug trafficking campaign but Caracus fears is a cover for regime change.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday claimed his country had 5000 Russian-made Igla-S anti-aircraft missiles in “key air defence positions.”

The missiles are short-range, low-altitude systems that can shoot down small aerial targets such as cruise missiles, drones and low-flying planes.