President Donald Trump threatened Monday to destroy any Iranian fast-attack ships that approach the newly imposed U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, warning the vessels would be “immediately ELIMINATED” using the same lethal tactics the military has employed against suspected drug-running boats in Latin American waters.

Trump issued the warning in a Truth Social post 23 minutes after the blockade went into effect at 10:00 a.m. ET.

“Iran’s Navy is laying at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated — 158 ships,” Trump wrote. He said his forces had spared a “small number” of Iranian fast-attack vessels only because they had not been considered a serious threat. That calculation, he made clear, could change instantly.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Trump wrote. “It is quick and brutal.”

The president appended a boast about domestic drug interdiction: “98.2% of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED!”

The threat came the morning after Trump announced the blockade, a dramatic escalation following the collapse of diplomatic talks in Pakistan. Vice President JD Vance — the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet face-to-face with Iranian leaders since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — led a delegation that also included special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner.

Vance said the American side had been “quite flexible” in its negotiating posture, but that Iran had not reciprocated. The Trump administration was seeking what Vance described as an “affirmative commitment” from Tehran that it would not pursue a nuclear weapon. No such commitment materialized, and Trump announced the blockade shortly after the talks broke down.

Trump’s invocation of anti-drug operations as a template for naval engagement reflects an expanding use of military force in the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. military has struck dozens of suspected Latin American drug-running vessels since last fall, and the president appeared Monday to signal that the same rules of engagement now apply to Iranian naval assets in the Persian Gulf.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)