Donald Trump may have broken a 200-year-old war law amid deadly strikes that killed 37 people

Donald Trump may have just broken a centuries-old law amid his ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking into the US.

The US President, 79, issued some pretty bold comments on the matter when speaking to reporters yesterday (23 October).

He said he was 'just going to kill people' who are believed to be bringing drugs into the US, after authorising nine strikes on boats that military officials claim were trafficking drugs.

So far, 37 people have died in the attacks, and as per PEOPLE, this includes a Colombian fisherman whose family said he had no ties to drugs.

But it looks like the Republican leader has no plans of stopping anytime soon, as he has vowed his administration will continue to attack drug cartels, without a declaration of war from Congress.

Addressing the situation yesterday, Trump declared: "The land is going to be next. And we may go to the Senate, we may go to the, you know, Congress and tell them about it, but I can't imagine they would have any problem with it.

Donald Trump has issued some strong comments on targeting drug traffickers (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

"I think, in fact, while we're here, if you go to Congress and you tell them about it, what are they going to do? Say, 'We don't want to stop drugs pouring in'."

When asked by a reporter why he doesn't want to request a formal declaration of war from Congress, Trump responded: "I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war.

"I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're going to kill them, you know, they're going to be, like, dead."

US Congress holds the sole power to declare war, as outlined in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, so if Trump did want to declare war, that may be an issue.

To explain, a Declaration of War by the United States refers to the formal process established by the US Constitution, which grants Congress the exclusive power to declare war.

This constitutional framework was established to stop war powers being given to a single individual.

And as per EBSCO, since the Constitution's adoption in 1789, Congress has issued formal declarations of war eleven times, with the most notable conflicts including the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and World War II.

Congress holds the sole power to declare war, as outlined in the US constitution (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Reacting to Trump's strong comments, one Twitter user wrote: "Welp, there goes next year’s peace prize," while a second added: "The president of peace everyone 'we’re gonna kill them, they’re gonna be like….dead'. You’ve got to be kidding."

And a third penned: "Just gonna kill them. Says it all, really. Not exactly a nuanced foreign policy. Guess that's one way to avoid a congressional vote."

Anna Kelly, a representative for the White House, said: “’Colombian fisherman’ is the new ‘Maryland Man’ hoax – just like the media tried to paint MS-13 human smuggler Kilmar Abrego Garcia as ‘father of the year,’ they are now running cover for foreign terrorists smuggling deadly narcotics intended to murder Americans.

"President Trump is using every element of American power to take on the cartels and stop deadly drugs from flooding into our country – just like he promised on the campaign trail."