Justice Dept. Memo Blessing Boat Strikes Is Said to Rely on Trump’s Claims About Cartels NYT | Top Stories By: Charlie Savage and Julian E. Barnes 14 November 2025 at 08:07 Accounts of a secret Justice Department memo offer a window into how administration lawyers approved the president’s desired course of action. © Doug Mills/The New York TimesThe Trump administration has insisted that its boat strikes are lawful, telling Congress in September that Mr. Trump had “determined” that the United States was in a noninternational armed conflict.