WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House said Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized a second strike on a suspected narcotics-trafficking boat in the Caribbean, following a Washington Post report alleging he ordered the military to “kill everybody” onboard. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Hegseth empowered Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out the follow-up strike, which reportedly killed two survivors clinging to the burning vessel after the initial attack.
Leavitt said the mission targeted individuals the administration classifies as “narcoterrorists,” noting the groups have been designated foreign terrorist organizations under ongoing federal counter-drug operations. She argued the administration acted within lawful wartime authority, saying Bradley operated “well within his authority and the law” to neutralize the threat posed by drug traffickers transporting narcotics into the United States.
The Washington Post report prompted bipartisan concern over whether the verbal order, as alleged, could constitute a war crime. According to the report, the first strike left two people alive, leading Bradley to order a second attack to comply with Hegseth’s directive that there be no survivors.
The strikes are part of a broader campaign in the Caribbean and Pacific that has killed at least 80 alleged traffickers, raising legal and operational questions about targeting standards, the rules of engagement, and the administration’s expanding use of counterterrorism authorities.
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