While the White House backed the Defense Secretary, certain Congress members are querying the attacks on alleged drug vessels ordered by Pete Hegseth.
On Tuesday, Secretary of “War” Pete Hegseth is feeling one of his toughest tests yet. The former news anchor is facing growing scrutiny from a group of bipartisan lawmakers over the way he carried out boat strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Meanwhile, in recent days, President Donald Trump has given Hegseth only little support. However, as the White House prepares for a possible armed conflict with Venezuela, his future in the Trump administration could be a huge story.
According to the White House, September saw the US military conduct two strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. The second attack deepened questions about Hegseth’s role in an operation that saw the killing of two survivors.
However, officials state that Hegseth ordered the lethal attack, but did not call for the killing of survivors. While talk of war crimes swirls around the former news anchor, the precise details of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug boat are facing intensifying scrutiny.
Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, Monday saw the Trump administration defending the legality of the boat attack, while calls grew in Congress for an examination into whether the second missile strike that killed two survivors amounted to a war crime.
The attack on the alleged drug boats is the first in President Donald Trump’s legally disputed campaign against people suspected of being drug smugglers at sea as if they were combatants in a war. Now, the attack is coming under intense bipartisan scrutiny with questions on the decision to kill the two survivors and what orders Hegseth issued.
Monday saw press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement at the White House, saying the defense secretary had authorized Adm. Frank M. Bradley, the special ops commander overseeing the attack “to conduct these kinetic strikes.”
Leavitt stated that Adm. Bradley had “worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”
Let’s make one thing crystal clear:
Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.
America is fortunate to have such men protecting…
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 1, 2025
Five US officials spoke separately and on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter that is currently under investigation. This relates to Hegseth ordering a strike that would kill people on the boat and destroy the vessel itself and is alleged cargo of drugs. However, each said that the defense secretary had not specifically addressed what should happen should a first missile not fully accomplish its task. They also said Hegseth’s order was not a response to surveillance footage that revealed at least two people who had survived the first blast.
Meanwhile, Adm. Bradley had ordered the first missile strike along with several follow-up strikes that killed the two survivors and sank the boat. He said that as the operation unfolded, Hegseth didn’t give him any further orders.
Following the sequence of events amid the political and legal uproar that followed the report, it is said that Adm. Bradley had ordered the second strike to complete a directive to kill everyone. In the reaction, questions arose as to Hegseth specifically ordered the killing of the shipwrecked survivors in violation of laws of war.
On Sun day night, Donald Trump said Hegseth had denied ordering the second strike, saying, “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.” However, in an effort to distance himself from the second strike, the president said he “wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike,” while stating the first attack was “fine.” Trump also defended his broader policy of using the military against people suspected of smuggling drugs.
