Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is doubling down on his position that recent U.S. military attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean Sea are illegal, a position that has earned him the ire of President Donald Trump, who last week called Paul a “nasty guy.”

“We have dangerous people in a lot of American cities, but we don’t just go in and shoot them,” Paul said Tuesday on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” “I mean, we have lawsuits. They have legal representation. And even on the high seas, it’s been that way for generations.”

Paul first spoke out last month after the Trump administration blew up a suspected drug trafficking ship off the Venezuelan coast. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that the United States has carried out its eighth strike against a suspected drug trafficking ship.

This new military campaign has killed at least 34 people since September, Hegseth said.

“If you leave the coast of Miami, the Coast Guard will stop the boats today,” Paul told Morgan. “And about 25% of the ships they stop because they suspect they contain drugs, there will be no drugs on board. So 25% of the time, the suspicion is wrong.”

“And that’s why we don’t shoot and just blow up ships in Miami,” he continued. “But we shouldn’t fly them off the coast of Venezuela either. First of all, no fentanyl is made in Venezuela; not even a little bit, none is made in Venezuela.”

Criticism of this bombing campaign has been poorly received by Trump.

On Friday he wrote on his Truth Social platform: “What happened to ‘Senator’ Rand Paul? He was never great, but he did really BAD! I elected him, TWICE (in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky!), but he never votes positively for the Republican Party.”

The president added at the time: “He’s a nasty, dumb guy.”

Paul notably broke with Trump over the GOP’s “big, beautiful” bill earlier this year, and showed no interest in helping him fulfill his campaign promises by voting for the massive tax and spending bill. Paul called him “just not conservative” on News at the time.

Senator Rand Paul previously argued that unilateral attacks could set a dangerous precedent.
Senator Rand Paul previously argued that unilateral attacks could set a dangerous precedent.

Ben Curtis/News

“I’ve known President Trump for over a decade, I’ve played golf with him a couple dozen times,” he told Morgan on Tuesday. “I actually enjoy his company and his personality most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be a rubber stamp or agree with everything.”

The senator added that he does not take Trump’s insults “too seriously.”

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Paul continues to appear very disturbed by the increasing use of deadly military force in Caribbean waters. He advocated for a return to due process after the first attack last month and reiterated this on social media after his appearance on Morgan’s show.

“We can’t just kill indiscriminately because we are not at war,” Paul wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s a summary execution! Everyone is put on trial because sometimes the system gets it wrong. Even the worst of the worst in our country receive due process.”

He continued: “The bottom line is that execution without trial is not justice, and blowing up foreign ships is a recipe for chaos.”