President Donald Trump may have put his administration "in a box" over the strikes against alleged drug boats in international waters, according to one CNN analyst.
The administration has conducted more than 20 strikes against alleged drug dealers and killed about 100 people in those operations, according to reports. Trump has argued that the strikes are a matter of national security, although experts say his administration has provided scant evidence to support that claim.
Abby Phillip, who hosts CNN's nightly show "NewsNight," discussed the strikes on Tuesday's broadcast of "Anderson Cooper 360."
"It makes me wonder if therewas a conversation in thePentagon about what happened inthis first instance," Phillip said. "The Trumpadministration has dug itselfinto a bit of a hole because byhaving Karoline Leavitt, thepress secretary, come out andthen say, 'We believe he was inhis legal authority, thisadmiral, this legal authority tocarry out this strike.' They'reendorsing it. They're endorsingit before there's been aninvestigation into the legalityof it. And I think that putsthem in a bit of a box."
Legal experts have questioned the legality of the strikes, with some suggesting that they amount to extrajudicial killings. The Department of Justice has released little information justifying the strikes. One memo obtained by The Guardian suggests the DOJ is relying on Trump's word to form its legal opinion of the strikes.