Trump backs Hegseth amid report of repeated strike on boat – US politics live | US news
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Trump ‘wouldn’t want’ second attack on Caribbean boat
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday, the president defended Hegseth, saying he was “100%” convinced that he did not order the second strike.
“I’ll find out, but Pete said he didn’t order the deaths of these two men.”
When asked if he wanted a second attempt to kill the survivors, the president said:
We will investigate this, but no, I would not want a second attack. “The first attack was very lethal.”
The Washington Post reported that Hegseth “gave a verbal instruction” in September to “kill everyone” on the ship. When there were still two men left after the initial attack, the Special Operations commander ordered the pursuit team to follow Hegseth’s instructions, the newspaper reported.
owned by Hegseth He strongly rejected the report he calls it “contrived, provocative and insulting.”
He also said that U.S. attacks on boats in the Caribbean so far have been “legal under both U.S. and international law.”
Welcome: Trump backs Hegseth amid repeated reports of boat assault
Good morning and welcome to our US Politics live blog.
We’re back in business after Thanksgiving: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding answers from the Trump administration following news that Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth ordered a double-strike attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing two people who survived the initial explosion on the ship.
The allegations, first reported in the Washington Post on Friday, have led to calls for an immediate investigation by Congress.
Hegseth, who calls himself X’s Secretary of War, called it “fake news” and President Trump said he believed him.
But Congress was alarmed. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed concern over the weekend that such attacks would be war crimes if the reports are true.
