Hegseth reveals details on Venezuela drug vessel strike approval decision

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Saturday offered new details about how he personally authorized the Trump administration’s initial attack on a suspected drug-smuggling ship off the coast of Venezuela on Sept. 2, telling Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson he watched the attack live from the Pentagon after giving the green light.

Earlier, in his opening speech, Hegseth declared that President Donald Trump was the true heir of Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” doctrine and accused past bipartisan leaders of drifting into endless wars.

After his speech, Hegseth sat down with Tomlinson for a Q&A session in which he revealed new details about the Sept. 2 operation, which he said was the first in a series of more than 20 U.S. strikes targeting cartel-linked narco-terrorist networks in the Caribbean.

He also strongly denied reports that he had ordered US forces to kill everyone on the boat.

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When asked if he had been given such an order, Hegseth said, “Is anyone here from the Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck.” “Of course not… you don’t just go in and say, ‘Kill them.’ That’s patently absurd.”

Hegseth also said it took “several weeks, almost a month” to generate the intelligence necessary for the initial attack. He said the Pentagon should redirect assets that have been concentrated “for too long 10,000 miles on the other side of the world.”

He kept strike authority at his level only for the first operation due to its “strategic consequences”.

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers the keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday. (Fox News / Pool)

“The briefing I received before the strike was thorough and comprehensive,” he said. “On the military side, on the civilian side, lawyers, intelligence analysts, red team…all the details you need to hit a designated terrorist organization.”

Hegseth said the target was part of an organization that President Trump has officially designated a terrorist group.

“My job was to execute or not to execute,” he said.

He approved the strike.

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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers the keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday. (Fox News / Pool)

According to Hegseth, once the attack tactical was implemented, he followed the mission flow for “probably about five minutes” before moving on to other missions.

Hours later, Hegseth said he was informed by commanders that a second attack was necessary.

“There had to be a renewed attack because there were still a few people who might have been in the fight,” he said, citing access to radios, a possible point of contact with another boat and drugs left on board.

“I fully support this strike,” he said. “I would make the same call.”

He added that renewed strikes are common in war zones and are “within the authority of Admiral Bradley,” who now oversees strike decisions. Hegseth said he no longer had approval authority for subsequent missions.

Answering questions about protocols for survivors, Hegseth pointed to a later incident involving a semi-submersible medicine container.

“In this particular case, the initial attack did not eliminate him and several men jumped out and swam away,” he said. US forces rescued the survivors after the ship was hit again and sank.

“We returned them to the host countries,” he said, adding that the situation “does not change our protocol” but reflects different circumstances.

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Hegseth argued that the operations already had a deterrent effect. “We’re putting them at the bottom of the Caribbean…it’s going to make the American people safer.”

Tomlinson pressed Hegseth on President Trump’s public statement that he did not oppose the release of the unredacted video of the initial attack.

“We’re reviewing that right now,” Hegseth said, noting concerns about “sources, methods” and ongoing operations.

Fox News Channel’s Shannon Bream (right) interviews Management and Budget Director Russ Vought (left) at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday.

Hegseth says defense spending is ‘one of the ongoing issues’ [him] up,” he said, adding that he recently attended Oval Office meetings regarding the FY26 and FY27 budgets.

When asked directly whether defense spending as a share of GDP would increase, he replied, “I think that number will increase,” while refusing to get ahead of President Trump.

“We need a revitalized defense industrial base,” he said. “We need these talents. We need them yesterday.”

Tomlinson also asked whether Hegseth regretted using Signal ahead of combat operations in Yemen, citing the recently closed inspector general review.

“I don’t live with any regrets,” Hegseth said. “I know exactly where our troops’ compass is.” He argued that morale has increased under Trump.

“The resurgence of spirit in our military… the desire to join and re-enlist is at historic levels,” he said.

Asked whether he prefers troops equipped with more AI-enabled vehicles or the autonomous systems that replace them, Hegseth said the modern battlefield requires both.

“It should be both,” he said. “What AI does at ten, 100, 1000 times the speed of perception… is critical.”

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Tomlinson concluded his speech with a traditional Reagan Forum question: Who does Hegseth want to win the Army-Navy game?

“I’m in the Navy,” he said, adding that the Marine Corps has “stood strong” during the political “nonsense” of recent years.