United States President Donald Trump has said recent military strikes on five Venezuelan boats have saved “at least 100,000 lives” because the manoeuvres have thwarted drug smuggling.“Every boat that we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives, so every time you see a boat and you feel badly you say, ‘Wow, that’s rough’: It is rough, but if you lose three people and save 25,000 people,” President Donald Trump said at an October 15 media conference.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe administration did not supply PolitiFact with evidence that the boats were carrying drugs. Drug experts told PolitiFact that Venezuela plays a minor role in trafficking drugs that reach the US. The legality of the strikes is also unclear. After the first attack in early September, some legal experts told PolitiFact that the military action was illegal under maritime law or human rights conventions, and the attack contradicted longstanding US military practices.Trump has used the figure repeatedly and also says he would consider similar strikes on land.“Every one of those boats is responsible for the death of 25,000 American people, and the destruction of families,” Trump said in an October 5 speech to US Navy sailors. “So when you think of it that way, what we’re doing is actually an act of kindness.“We’ve taken a very hard stand on drugs … the water drugs – the drugs that come in through water, they’re not coming – there are no boats any more, frankly, there are no fishing boats, there’s no boats out there, period,” Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on October 7. “We’v …
