Fact-checking Trump's claim that each boat strike off Venezuela's coast saves 25,000 lives

Fact-checking Trump’s claim that each boat strike off Venezuela’s coast saves 25,000 lives Politics Oct 19, 2025 3:27 PM EDT

This article originally appeared on PolitiFact .

President Donald Trump said U.S. military strikes on five Venezuelan boats have saved more than 100,000 lives because the maneuvers 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,” Trump said in an Oct. 15 press conference .

The 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 U.S. The le