Retired GOP senator: Trump’s own administration fears moral backlash from boat strikes

When conservative then-Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) announced, in 2018, that he wouldn't be seeking reelection, it reflected his dissatisfaction with Donald Trump's first presidency as well as his fear that Republicans would fare badly in the midterms. Flake's fears were justified: Democrats recaptured the U.S. House of Representatives that year, and a centrist then-Democrat, Kyrsten Sinema, won his U.S. Senate seat when she defeated GOP nominee Martha McSally.

Flake's disdain for Trumpism continued when, in 2020, he endorsed Democrat Joe Biden — who appointed Flake U.S. ambassador to Turkey after winning the election.

But Trump, defeated in 2020 yet triumphant in 2024, returned to the White House on January 20, 2025 and is now ten and one-half months into his second presidency.

In an article published by The Atlantic on December 9, Flake offers a scathing critique of the Trump Administration's Venezuela policy.

Flake, an ally of the late conservative Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), is known for being hawkish on foreign policy. But he argues that the Trump Administration's military strikes on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean violate the rules of combat.

"Under this program," Flake explains, "small vessels suspected of carrying drugs were hit with military-grade munitions, often without any attempt to detain or even warn those aboard. In at least one case, the strikes didn't end when the boat was destroyed. Survivors adrift on the wreckage in open water were killed in a second attack, a 'double tap' designed to finish the job."

Flake continues, "During my 18 years in the House and Senate, I sat through countless briefings on when and how lethal force could be used. Later, as ambassador to Turkey, I saw how closely the world watches when we choose to honor those limits — or choose not to do so. That perspective makes these boat strikes impossible to wave off as routine. They reflect choices that fall well outside the standards we have long claimed to uphold."

The conservative ex-senator calls for much greater transparency on Venezuela — something he says the Trump Administration is not offering.

"The (Trump) Administration has resisted releasing full video of these incidents, citing national security," Flake explains. "But the more plausible concern is political and moral. It knows what the public reaction would be. Americans have strong feelings about drug trafficking, but few believe that killing people as they attempt to stay alive in the ocean fits within the bounds of justifiable force. Once confronted with the footage, most Americans would question not only the legality of the operation, but the instinct behind it…. Death inflicted on the helpless is never an act of strength; it is what remains when strength forgets its purpose."

Flake adds, "That recognition seems to exist even among some in the administration. The reluctance to release the footage suggests an awareness of the moral intuition that they fear the public will follow. Americans may disagree on many things, but they still distinguish between necessary force and needless killing. They expect their government, even in dangerous work, to understand the difference."

Former Sen. Jeff Flake's (R-Arizona) full article for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).