Topline
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “it was the right call” to conduct additional strikes that killed two survivors on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean, defending the military commander who issued the order amid bipartisan criticism that it could constitute a war crime.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (C) speaks during a Cabinet meeting alongside (L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
“It was the right call, we have his back,” Hegseth said Tuesday during a cabinet meeting, referring to Adm. Frank Bradley, who issued the order.
While Hegseth defended the decision, he also distanced himself from it, telling reporters he “watched that first strike” but did not “stick around for the hour or two hours after” and “moved on” to his next meeting.
“A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made—which he had the complete authority to do—he made the correct decision to sink the boat and eliminated the threat,” Hegseth said, adding that he “did not personally see survivors” as the boat “was on fire.”
Bradley gave orders to carry out subsequent missile strikes to fulfill Hegseth’s directive to kill the boat passengers after the first attack left two survivors, The New York Times reported Monday, citing five unnamed sources.
The Sept. 2 attacks came under scrutiny following a report in The Washington Post last week that the U.S. military attacked the vessel again as survivors clung to the wreckage, a scenario lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said could amount to a war crime.
The White House on Monday defended the mission and said Hegseth and President Donald Trump authorized Bradley to “conduct these kinetic strikes” and Bradley “worked well within his authority and the law.”
Crucial Quote
When asked about Hegseth’s alleged order to “kill everybody,” as reported by The Washington Post, Leavitt said Monday, “I would reject that the Secretary of War ever said that.”
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/12/02/hegseth-distances-himself-from-strike-that-killed-boat-survivors-but-says-it-was-the-right-call/
