President Donald Trump has informed Congress that the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that his administration has labeled as terrorist organizations, according to a confidential notice obtained by The New York Times. The Times reported Thursday that the administration’s notice to several congressional committees laid out the legal rationale for military strikes Trump ordered last month against drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean, which killed 17 people. The administration argued that the people aboard were “unlawful combatants” because of ties to cartels. Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer, said under international law nonstate groups must be “organized armed groups” to count as parties to a conflict. He questioned whether the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Trump officials have spotlighted, fits that definition.