On August 8, 2025, the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump secretly authorized U.S. military action against Latin American drug cartels. While striking, this is not new—U.S. presidents have repeatedly used the military in the ‘war on drugs.’

President Richard Nixon set the tone in 1969 with Operation Intercept, nearly shutting down border crossings to curb marijuana imports and deploying the Navy in the Gulf of Mexico. Nixon later declared drug traffickers ‘national enemies,’ launched the DEA in 1973, and even floated the bizarre idea of unleashing a screwworm to destroy opium poppies in Southeast Asia.

Ronald Reagan intensified the fight, declaring the drug trade a national security threat. His Florida Task Force used Navy destroyers, and Vice President George H. W. Bush oversaw operations.

As president, George H. W. Bush expanded these efforts—doubling Defense Department anti-drug funding, making the Pentagon lead for intelligence, launching Joint Task Force-6 to support border enforcement, and deploying Special Forces to Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. He also ordered Operation Just Cause (1989), the invasion of Panama to capture dictator Manuel Noriega on drug-trafficking charges.

During the Clinton administration, direct military interdiction waned in favor of training and intelligence support, with military-adjacent leadership—such as General Barry McCaffrey as ‘Drug Czar’—and amendments to Posse Comitatus widening permissible domestic military support.

George W. Bush later launched ‘Plan Colombia,’ funneling roughly $10–12 billion (2000–2021) into military and security aid to Colombia to counter narcotics, yielding mixed results—improved security but persistent coca cultivation.

	Civilian	ROTC	Military Academy	Total
Very appropriate	39.0%	36.0%	31.2%	32.6%
Somewhat appropriate	35.8%	41.5%	41.6%	41.2%
Not very appropriate	18.3%	19.0%	23.4%	22.7%
No opinion	6.9%	3.6%	3.3%	3.5%
Total surveyed	218	422	3252	3892
Total %	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table 1. Respondents Who Believe that it is Appropriate for the Military to “To Combat Drug Trafficking” by Military Affiliation

Since military personnel are expected to enforce these drug-related policies, what do they think of such missions? Our previous post with regard to domestic issues suggests that civilians would be more open to it than their military counterparts. Findings show, here, that support also declines with closer military affiliation. Academy cadets are least supportive—only 31.8% deem it ‘very appropriate.’ Civilian students are more approving at 39%, yet still lower than the 51% who supported using troops for managing domestic disorder in our last post.

This suggests academy cadets prioritize traditional defense roles, while civilians display greater openness to expanded military engagement—including in domestic and transnational arenas. Their lower support for utilizing troops to help with the war on drugs could stem from the fact that our sample is younger than the general population (in their late teens and 20s). They may be less open to fighting a war on drugs because, according to Gallup, young people generally support legalization of drugs more than older Americans, especially among conservatives. 

Taken together, the historical record and public opinion data highlight a tension in American civil-military relations. Presidents across parties have consistently expanded the military’s role in drug enforcement, often framing narcotics as threats to national security. Yet those closest to military service remain cautious about broadening its mission, underscoring an enduring divide between civilian expectations of military power and the professional ethos of the armed forces.