U.S. Southern Command, at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, conducted a lethal kinetic strike on February 23, 2026, against a vessel operated by designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean, killing three male narco-terrorists transiting narco-trafficking routes, as announced by SOUTHCOM on X at approximately 6:45 p.m. UTC within the 29-minute reporting window from 6:45:56 p.m. to 7:15:43 p.m. UTC. No U.S. forces were harmed. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Ron Wyden with cosponsors Sens. Ed Markey, Jeanne Shaheen, Chuck Schumer and others, introduced a bill directing the Trump administration to refund tariff revenue following a Supreme Court ruling, prioritizing small businesses, according to Punchbowl News text linked by Laura Weiss on X during the window. Separately, advocates cited the Court's tariff arguments—that no president had used IEEPA this way—as aligning with challenges to mass ICE detention without bond, per Kyle Cheney on X. California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated the Democratic Party needs to be "more culturally normal," less focused on pronouns and identity politics, and more on issues like electricity bills, child care, health care and housing, as quoted by Osint613 on X in the window. He noted his support for marriage equality. The SOUTHCOM strike under Joint Task Force Southern Spear builds on ongoing Operation Southern Spear targeting narco-trafficking. The tariff refund bill responds directly to the recent SCOTUS ruling on President Trump's use of emergency powers for tariffs. No prior context from previous reports on Iran warnings or ICE training connected to these window developments.
