By LISA MASCARO, Associated Press Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Within a week of Donald Trump’s election, Sen. Lindsey Graham counseled the president-elect to quickly send a message to the drug cartels from the White House.

“Blow up something,” Graham told Trump.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, speaks at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The brazen military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling speedboat carrying 11 people from Venezuela this month is just what the South Carolina senator had in mind. But it has cleaved fresh divisions within the Republican Party over Trump’s campaign promise to keep the U.S. out of foreign entanglements and the reality of a commander in chief whose America First agenda is pursuing a tougher military stance.

And it’s raising stark questions about just how far Trump intends to wield his presidential power over the U.S. military without a robust check on the executive branch from Congress.

Already, Trump has dropped 30,000-pound bombs on Iran’s nuclear sites without any new authorizations from Capitol Hill. He deployed the military to Los Angeles over the objections of California’s Democratic governor and wants the National Guard in other cities, too. Trump’s allies pressured senators to confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary despite objections to his past behavior and skepticism of “warrior culture” at the Pentagon. And last week Trump rebranded the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

“I don’t care whether it’s a Republican president or a Democrat president,” said Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, once a Trump rival for the White House. “We can’t just want to kill people without having some kind of process.”

“We’re just going to blow up ships? That just isn’t who we are,” Paul said.

‘Killing cartel members’

The Trump administration, and the president himself, have said the lethal strike on the vessel from Venezuela was intended to make it clear that the U.S. would not tolerate drugs being shipped into this country. They said those killed on the boat in the Caribbean included members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which operates from Venezuela, though details have been scarce.

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“Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” Vice President JD Vance posted on social media.

When a prominent commenter suggested that killing civilians without due process would be a war crime, Vance replied that he didn’t care “what you call it.”

Paul, the senator, responded to Vance with his own questions.

“Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?” Paul wrote. “Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??

“What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”

A bipartisan briefing on the matter for the Senate’s top national security staff was abruptly canceled last week. And Tuesday’s rescheduled session left many questions unanswered.

‘There’s a legal way to do that’

The Trump administration did not explain its authority for the strike and would not provide legal opinion, according to a person familiar with the briefing who insisted on anonymity because it was closed.

“Where is the legality here?” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former Navy combat pilot and astronaut.

“I understand the need for us to be able to take out drug dealers from being able to deliver drugs into the United States,” he said. “There’s a legal way to do that.”

But Kelly said he worries for the military officers involved with the mission. “What situation did we, did the White House, just put them in?” he said. “I don’t know if this was legal or not.”

What Venezuela had to say

After Trump announced the strike, Venezuelan state television showed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores walking the streets of his childhood neighborhood. A television presenter said Maduro was “bathing in patriotic love” as he interacted with supporters.

Maduro did not immediately address the strike directly but charged that the United States was “coming for Venezuela’s riches,” including the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Trump’s national security vision and the power to enact it

Republicans have been shifting their national security priorities since Trump’s first term moved the GOP away from its traditional mooring as a party with a muscular approach to confronting adversaries and assisting allies abroad.

Trump’s America First approach initially launched a new era of U.S. neo-isolationism more aligned with the libertarian-leaning Paul than traditional defense hawks like Graham.

But in his second term, Trump is testing not his national security vision but his power to enact it.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before he enters a restaurant near the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Washington, to have dinner with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he is “extremely confident” that the target of the boat bombing was “a group of narco-terrorists.”

“I can’t tell you how many lives were saved by the president of the United States when he pulled the trigger on that,” Risch said Tuesday. “There were tons of drugs that went down with that that would’ve wound up right here in the USA.”

Gesturing to the Supreme Court building across from the Capitol, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he believes the president’s actions fall under his Article II authority, since the administration said the drugs were heading to the U.S.

“My gut intuition is it’s within the president’s commander in chief powers,” Hawley said.

Briefing for lawmakers

But Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called for lawmakers to receive a full briefing from the Trump administration, including the legal rationale for the military strike.

If the president exceeded his authority, then the Senate must consider all remedies available, including limiting the use of funds for further unauthorized military operations, he said. “We cannot risk the life of American servicemembers based on secret orders and dubious legal theories,” Reed said.

Graham, a former judge advocate general, or JAG, officer in the Navy, recalled his advice as Trump prepared to return to the White House.

“Whether it’s a lab, I don’t care if it’s in Mexico, I don’t care where it is,” Graham recalled. “I said, ‘Look for a target that changes the game.’”

Asked if the strike on the Venezuelan boat was it, Graham said: “Works for me.”

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

By LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s most powerful official warned Wednesday that Europe is battling against a series of threats posed by Russia, new global trade challenges and even other major world powers and must stake claim to its independence.

In a State of the Union speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced new measures to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s full-scale invasion, and she called for trade restrictions and sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza.

She also defended the deal she reached with U.S. President Donald Trump to limit the impact of his global tariff war, despite agreeing to a 15% duty rate for most European exports to the United States.

Fight for values

“Europe is in a fight,” von der Leyen told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. “A fight for our values and our democracies. A fight for our liberty and our ability to determine our destiny for ourselves. Make no mistake — this is a fight for our future.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as she delivers a major state of the union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

“Battle lines for a new world order based on power are being drawn right now,” she said, adding that the EU “must fight for its place in a world in which many major powers are either ambivalent or openly hostile to Europe.”

“This must be Europe’s independence moment,” said the 66-year-old former German defense minister, who has become a prominent figure at summits with leaders around the world, despite her role as a political appointee who hasn’t been elected to office.

The commission is the EU’s executive arm. It proposes laws that impact the lives of around 450 million people across 27 countries, and monitors whether those rules are respected.

In recent years, it has helped Europe to survive fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, break its dependency on Russian energy supplies and cope with a trade war launched by a traditional ally like the U.S.

Russian aggression

Turning to Russia’s war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year, von der Leyen said that Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of ending the war, and that “our response must be clear too.”

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“We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiation table. We need more sanctions,” she said. The commission and EU member countries are working on a new raft of sanctions targeting Russia’s energy revenues.

Poland said Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered its territory over the course of several hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies.

Von der Leyen condemned the “reckless and unprecedented violation of Poland and Europe’s airspace.”

“Europe stands in full solidarity with Poland,” she said. “Putin’s message is clear, and our response must be clear, too. We need more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiation table. We need more sanctions.”

Ukraine’s economy

Von der Leyen also said that new ways to address Ukraine’s financial challenges must also come through the use of frozen Russian assets in Europe. Almost $235 billion worth of those assets are being held in a Belgian clearing house.

Interest earned on the assets – around $4.1 billion were generated last year – are already being used to help prop up Ukraine’s war-ravaged economy. Von der Leyen said that a “reparations loan” for damage inflicted by Russia is being weighed.

She also announced the creation of a “drone alliance” with Ukraine – drones have become a decisive factor in the war – with $7 billion in funds for the effort.

Freezing support to Israel

To applause in the parliament, the commission chief said that she wants to freeze some financial support to Israel, and to impose trade restrictions and sanctions on the government over the war in Gaza.

Breaking with her traditionally very strong pro-Israeli government stance, von der Leyen said that the events in Gaza and the suffering of children and families “has shaken the conscience of the world.”

“Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war. For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity. This must stop,” she said. She added that the commission will set up a new Palestinian donor group, with a focus on Gaza’s future reconstruction.

U.S. tariff deal

Addressing criticism of the tariff deal with Trump, von der Leyen underlined that Europe depends on the United States as a major trading partner, and that the position of European businesses was improved compared to other countries that got a worse deal.

“Millions of jobs depend on” that relationship, she said. “And as president of the commission, I will never gamble with people’s jobs and livelihoods.”

FILE- President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shake hands after reaching a trade deal at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

By CLAUDIA CIOBANU and ILLIA NOVIKOV, Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland said Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered its territory over the course of several hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies, describing the incursion as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.

The Kremlin refused to comment, but its close ally, Belarus, said it tracked some drones that “lost their course” because they were jammed. However, several European leaders said they believe that the incursion amounted to an intentional escalation by Russia of its war on Ukraine.

Poland said some of the drones came from Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian troops have begun gathering for war games starting on Friday.

Firefighters secure parts of a damaged UAV shot down by Polish authorities at a site in Czosnowka near Biala Podlaska, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Piotr Pyrkosz)

Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union. A NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance has confronted a potential threat in its airspace.

NATO met to discuss the incident, which came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began.

“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

The extent of the incursion was still becoming clear: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament 19 violations were recorded over seven hours, but that information was still being gathered. Eight crash sites have been found, a government spokesperson said. Dutch fighter jets came to Poland’s aid and intercepted some drones, the Netherlands’ defense minister said.

“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” the Polish military’s operational command said on social media.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Russia to put an end to “this reckless escalation,” while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the violation “a test of NATO countries’ defense capabilities.”

Poland says some drones came from Belarus

Tusk told parliament that the first violation came at approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and the last around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. He said that the 19 violations recorded so far were “not the final data.”

Earlier, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish airspace, but he did not specify an exact number.

General Wieslaw Kukula, center, chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces during at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister for an extraordinary government meeting, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack. in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP)

“What is new, in the worst sense of the word, is the direction from which the drones came. This is the first time in this war that they did not come from Ukraine as a result of errors or minor Russian provocations. For the first time, a significant portion of the drones came directly from Belarus,” Tusk said in parliament.

Belarusian Maj. Gen. Pavel Muraveiko, the chief of the General Staff chief and first deputy defense minister, appeared to try to put some distance between his country and the incursion.

In an online statement, he said that as Russia and Ukraine traded drone strikes overnight, Belarusian air defense forces tracked “drones that lost their course” after they were jammed, adding that Belarusian forces warned their Polish and Lithuanian counterparts about “unidentified aircraft” approaching their territory.

“This allowed the Polish side to respond promptly to the actions of the drones by scrambling their forces on duty,” Muraveiko said.

Drones were found in seven locations in Poland, according to Karolina Galecka, spokeswoman for Ministry of Interior and Administration. At the eighth site, objects of an unknown origin were found.

Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit. Much of the roof was ripped off. He said people were inside but nobody was hurt.

On Wednesday morning, the army was keeping guard on the streets of the village as curious locals huddled together with police and firefighters to figure out what happened.

Poland closed part of its airspace for several hours, and Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights.

NATO members vow support, with Baltic countries rattled

NATO air defenses supported Poland in what spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell called “the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”

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Tusk told parliament consultations with allies were taking place under Article 4 of the NATO treaty – a clause that allows countries to call for urgent discussions with their allies. The consultations happened at a pre-planned meeting on Wednesday. They do not automatically lead to any action under Article 5, which is NATO’s collective security guarantee.

Dutch F-35 fighter jets “intercepted drones over Poland,” Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on X. And German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler were launched, O’Donnell said.

NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”

Leaders in the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members most nervous about Russian aggression given their close proximity — were among the most rattled and expressed deep concerns.

“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukraine and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it an “extremely dangerous precedent for Europe” and called for Russia to “feel the consequences.”

“Moscow always tests the limits of what is possible and, if it does not encounter a strong response, remains at a new level of escalation,” he said. “Not just one Shahed (drone), which could be dismissed as an accident, but at least eight attack drones that were aimed in the direction of Poland.”

Objects have entered Polish airspace before

Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.

In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.

In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish airspace on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.

Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.

One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses were damaged.

Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.

In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.

Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 10, the 253rd day of 2025. There are 112 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 10, 2008, the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) was powered up for the first time, successfully firing the first beam of protons through its 17-mile underground ring tunnel.

Also on this date:

In 1608, John Smith was elected president of the Jamestown colony council in Virginia.

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In 1846, Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

In 1960, running barefoot, Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the Olympic marathon in Rome, becoming the first Black African to win Olympic gold.

In 1960, Hurricane Donna, a dangerous Category 4 storm blamed for 364 deaths, struck the Florida Keys.

In 1963, 20 Black students entered Alabama public schools following a standoff between federal authorities and Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace.

In 1979, four Puerto Rican nationalists imprisoned for a 1954 attack on the U.S. House of Representatives and a 1950 attempted killing of President Harry S. Truman were freed from prison after being granted clemency by President Jimmy Carter.

In 1987, Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, where he was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan as he began a 10-day tour of the United States.

In 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The proceedings would become a watershed moment in the discussion of sexual harassment when Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas, came forward with allegations against him.

In 2005, teams of forensic workers and cadaver dogs fanned out across New Orleans to collect the corpses left behind by Hurricane Katrina.

In 2022, King Charles III was officially proclaimed Britain’s monarch in a pomp-filled ceremony two days after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Today’s Birthdays:

Scientist-author Jared Diamond is 88.
Singer José Feliciano is 80.
Former Canadian first lady Margaret Trudeau is 77.
Political commentator Bill O’Reilly is 76.
Rock musician Joe Perry (Aerosmith) is 75.
Actor Amy Irving is 72.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, is 71.
Actor-director Clark Johnson is 71.
Actor Kate Burton is 68.
Film director Chris Columbus is 67.
Actor Colin Firth is 65.
Cartoonist Alison Bechdel is 65.
Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson is 62.
Actor Raymond Cruz is 61.
Rapper Big Daddy Kane is 57.
Film director Guy Ritchie is 57.
Actor Ryan Phillippe (FIHL’-ih-pee) is 51.
Ballerina Misty Copeland is 43.
Former MLB All-Star Joey Votto is 42.