US President Donald Trump views controversial military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels as life-saving measures rather than killings, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said, according to a magazine article published Tuesday.
Asked what she would tell critics questioning whether the administration has compassion, Wiles offered Vanity Fair a direct defense of the policy.
"The president believes in harsh penalties for drug dealers, as he's said many, many times," Wiles said. "These are not fishing boats, as some would like to allege."
She claimed that the boats carried drugs, and eliminating them saves lives.
The administration, however, has not released any evidence showing that the boats did carry drugs. Critics of the policy also say taking the alleged drug-runners into custody and interrogating them for information would do more good than summarily executing them, with no chance to defend themselves.
Critics also point out that some of the small boats were thousands of miles from US shores, or were headed to the east, to Asia, making it unlikely any contraband they were carrying was meant to go to America.
Wiles said: "The president says 25,000 (lives saved). I don't know what the number is. But he views those as lives saved, not people killed."
The US has carried out at least 22 strikes in the East Pacific and Caribbean on boats allegedly transporting narcotics since September, killing at least 87 people. Washington has not provided evidence supporting drug trafficking claims.
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 heads a powerful drug cartel.
"He wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle (surrenders). And people way smarter than me on that say that he will," she said. Maduro says Trump is seeking regime change, not fighting drug smuggling.
"We're very sure we know who we're blowing up," Wiles said, asserting the administration is confident it is 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 showing that he is not interested in stopping the drug trade. After his release, Honduras issued an arrest warrant for Hernandez.
Trump continues demanding Venezuela's Maduro step-down, maintaining all options, including military force, remain on the table amid massive force buildup in the region.
Following publication, Wiles lashed out on US social media company X, calling the article "a disingenuously framed hit piece" that disregarded significant context and omitted positive comments about the president and team.
"I have been honored to work for (Trump) the better part of a decade," she wrote.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended Wiles, saying: "President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her."
