Trump to Host Roundtable on Operations Targeting Cartels, Human Trafficking

He will be joined by Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others.

President Donald Trump is holding a roundtable on Oct. 23 to discuss his administration’s efforts to target and counter cartel, drug, and human trafficking operations, the White House confirmed.

“President Donald Trump will host a roundtable to discuss the tremendous successes of his Homeland Security Task Forces—a first-of-its-kind effort targeting cartels, criminal networks, and more,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said on X.

Jackson told The Epoch Times that Trump will be joined at the roundtable by Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Created by executive order on the president’s first day back in office, the Homeland Security Task Forces were created to “end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations throughout the United States, dismantle cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks, end the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking, with a particular focus on such offenses involving children, and ensure the use of all available law enforcement tools to faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States.”

Thursday’s roundtable comes after the White House announced that U.S. forces struck yet another alleged drug boat off the coast of South America. Nine such strikes have been announced since Sept. 2, with seven of them occurring in the Caribbean Sea in international waters off the coast of Venezuela.

It also follows an announcement made by Noem on Oct. 20 that more than 480,000 criminal illegals have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since Trump took office in January. She said 70 percent of those criminal illegals had been convicted or had pending charges.

Noem announced on Oct. 7 that the 2025 fiscal year saw the fewest border arrests since 1970. Accounting for 237,565 arrests, it marked an 87 percent drop from the average of the past four fiscal years.

“We will continue to fulfill @POTUSTrump’s promise to Make America Safe Again, secure our borders, and protect our people,” she said on X on Oct. 20.

By T.J. Muscaro

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