US President Donald Trump sees controversial military strikes on suspected drug trafficking ships as life-saving measures rather than assassinations, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said, according to a magazine article published on Tuesday.
Asked what she would say to critics who question whether the administration has compassion, Wiles offered Vanity Fair a straightforward defense of the policy.
“The president believes in tough sentences for drug traffickers, as he has said many, many times,” Wiles said. “These are not fishing boats, as some would like to claim.”
She claimed that the ships were carrying drugs and eliminating them saves lives.
However, the administration has not released any evidence showing that the ships were carrying drugs. Critics of the policy also say that arresting drug suspects and questioning them for information would do more good than executing them immediately, without any opportunity to defend themselves.
Critics also point out that some of the small ships were thousands of miles from US shores, or were heading east to Asia, making it unlikely that any smuggled goods they were carrying were intended for America.
Wiles said: “The president says 25,000 (lives saved). I don’t know what the number is. But he sees them as lives saved, not people killed.”
The US has carried out at least 22 attacks in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean on ships suspected of carrying narcotics since September, killing at least 87 people. Washington has offered no evidence to support the drug trafficking allegations.
The article, based on more than 10 interviews spanning the year, also detailed Trump's strategy toward Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom Wiles said Trump believes runs a powerful drug cartel.
"He will continue to blow up ships until Maduro shouts 'uncle (surrender).' And people much smarter than me about this say he will," she said. Maduro says Trump is seeking regime change, not fighting drug smuggling.
"We're pretty sure we know who we're blowing up," Wiles said, claiming the administration is confident it's targeting drug traffickers.
Critics also point to Trump's pardon earlier this month of Juan Orlando Hernandez, a former president of Honduras who was convicted of drug trafficking, as an indication that he is not interested in stopping the drug trade. After his release, Honduras issued an arrest warrant for Hernandez.
Trump continues to demand the resignation of Venezuela's Maduro, maintaining that all options, including military force, remain on the table, despite the massive buildup of forces in the region.
After publication, Wiles harshly attacked the American social media company X, calling the article “a dishonestly crafted stinging piece” that ignored significant context and left out positive comments about the president and team.
"I have been honored to have worked for (Trump) for the better part of a decade," she wrote.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt defended Wiles, saying: "President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire administration is grateful for her steadfast leadership and is fully united behind her."
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