Trump says he'll look into reported second strike on suspected drug boat Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY December 1, 2025 at 6:18 AM 0 WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will look into whether the U.S. carried out a second strike against a boat in the Caribbean that the administration says was smuggling drugs, as he defended his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from an accusation that he ordered military officials to "kill them all" prior to the lethal strike. A Washington Post report on Nov.
- - Trump says he'll look into reported second strike on suspected drug boat
Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY December 1, 2025 at 6:18 AM
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he will look into whether the U.S. carried out a second strike against a boat in the Caribbean that the administration says was smuggling drugs, as he defended his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from an accusation that he ordered military officials to "kill them all" prior to the lethal strike.
A Washington Post report on Nov. 28 that cited anonymous sources said that Hegseth gave a directive to leave no survivors, which prompted the U.S. military to conduct follow-on strike that killed two individuals to comply with the order.
Hegseth called the report "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory," and Trump allies have responded by questioning the story's accuracy.
"I don't know anything about it," Trump told reporters on Nov. 30. "He said he did not say that, and I believe him, 100 percent," Trump added. "He says he didn't do it."
The Trump administration's lethal strikes on alleged drug boats that the U.S. says were aimed at deterring Venezuelan traffickers was already facing congressional scrutiny, and after the latest reporting, lawmakers on the Armed Services committees in the House and Senate pledged to provide rigorous oversight of the operation.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during travel to Washington, D.C., from Palm Beach International Airport, Florida, U.S., November 30, 2025. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden
Since September, the administration is known to have carried out strikes on at least 21 boats in international waters that killed 83 people. The reported second strike on the suspected drug boat took place on Sept. 2.
Trump could not say on Nov. 30 if a second strike had taken place, telling reporters riding on Air Force One, "I don't know. I'm going to find out about it. But Pete said he did not order the death of those two men."
"We'll look into it, but no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike," Trump said.
The legality of the ongoing strikes is in dispute. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has said they violate international law, and Democrats in Congress are demanding the Justice Department release a classified Office of Legal Counsel opinion that reportedly says U.S. military personnel involved in the strikes cannot be prosecuted.
Trump has threatened to escalate the attacks to land strikes on Venezuela and said on Nov. 29 that pilots should consider the airspace over the country closed. He told reporters on Nov. 30 that he'd spoke to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro but did not say what they discussed.
Contributing: Phillip M. Bailey, Zac Anderson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump defends Hegseth after reported second strike on suspected drug boat
Source: "AOL Breaking"
Source: Breaking
Published: December 01, 2025 at 04:54PM on Source: MARIO MAG
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