The Brief The U.S. is now in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by the Associated Press. President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels as unlawful combatants and said the United States is now in a "non-international armed conflict." This is according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. The Trump administration had previously justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States. The first military strike, carried out on Sept. 2 on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat, killed 11 people.