President Donald Trump quickly distanced himself from a deadly U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat amid growing scrutiny over whether the attack was legal.
The Washington Post reported that two people survived the first blast and were clinging to the side of the burning vessel on September 2. They were then killed in the second strike.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns over the report and have vowed congressional review.
Trump defended blowing up alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, but he said he relied on the defense secretary for information about the September 2 strike.
“As far as the attack is concerned, I didn’t, you know, I still haven’t gotten a lot of information because I rely on Pete,” Trump said.
He said he saw the incident as an attack, but he was unaware of the second strike.
“I didn’t know about the second strike. I didn’t know anything about people. I wasn’t involved,” Trump said. “I knew they took out a boat.”
Trump made the comment in response to a question from a reporter during his Cabinet meeting at the White House, with Hegseth seated immediately to his left.
“Pete was satisfied. Pete didn’t know about the second attack having to do with two people, and I guess Pete would have to speak to it,” Trump said.
The president repeated that he wanted the boats taken out.
“If we have to, we’ll attack on land also, just like we attack on sea,” Trump said.
More than 80 people have been killed in a series of strikes in the Caribbean since early September. The U.S. usually announces strikes by releasing grainy video footage. However, it has not provided clear evidence of drug trafficking.
Trump praised Hegseth and said he was doing an amazing job before giving him the floor to answer questions. The defense secretary fiercely defended the strikes but also slammed the media.
Hegseth claimed he was going to be the one to make the call for the first couple of strikes, but he then claimed he left the room before the second strike on September 2.
“Now the first couple of strikes, as you would as any leader would want, you want to own that responsibility, so I said I’m going to be the one to make the call after getting all the information and making sure it’s the right strike. That was September 2,” Hegseth said.
“I watched that first strike live. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we have a lot of things to do, so I didn’t stick around for the hour or two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive sight exploitation digitally occurs, so I moved on to my next meeting,” he claimed.
The defense secretary said he learned a couple of hours later that Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley had ordered the second strike.
“Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” Hegseth said. “It was the right call. We have his back.”
When asked to clarify, Hegseth said he did not personally see survivors clinging to the wreckage as was reported before the second strike.
“The thing was on fire. It was exploded in fire and smoke. You can’t see anything. You got digital,” he argued. “This is called the fog of war.”
That is when the defense secretary really got worked up, attacking the press for its reporting on the incident.
“You sit in your air-conditioned office or up on Capitol Hill, and you nitpick, and you plant fake stories in The Washington Post about ‘kill everybody,’ phrases on anonymous sources not based in anything,” he claimed, his voice rising.
“Then you want to throw real irresponsible terms about American heroes, about the judgment that they made,” Hegseth argued.
He claimed that Trump had empowered commanders to do what is “necessary, which is dark and difficult things in the dead of night on behalf of the American people.”
After the bombshell Washington Post report dropped alleging Hegseth gave the order “kill everybody,” the Pentagon claimed it was a false narrative and accused the press of fabricating stories.
But the White House clarified on Monday that the second strike did happen while distancing the secretary from an alleged order to kill survivors. They insisted the strike was lawful.
Democrats have called for the Pentagon to release the footage of the strike. Members of both parties have said there will be an investigation.
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