Trump supports releasing video footage of second strike
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President Donald Trump is preparing to release video footage of the second attack on an alleged drug ship on September 2.
The Trump administration is now facing more intense scrutiny over its attacks against alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean, following White House confirmation that the US military launched a second attack on one of the ships after survivors of the first attack were left dead.
Trump shared footage of the first attack and said Wednesday he supported releasing documentation of the second attack.
“I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’ll definitely release it. No problem,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.
Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. (Yuri Gripas/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
HEGSETH SAID THAT THE ARMY MADE A NEW ATTACK ON THE BOAT ALLEGED TO BE A NARCO TERRORISM
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that he watched the first attack live but left for a meeting and did not learn about the second attack until later.
The White House said Monday that Hegseth authorized Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley to carry out the attacks, and that it was Bradley who ordered and directed the second attack.
At the time of the September 2 attack, Bradley was serving as commander of U.S. Special Operations Command’s Joint Special Operations Command. He is currently the head of U.S. Special Operations Command.
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According to Hegseth, the subsequent attack on the alleged drug ship was the right decision.
“Admiral Bradley ultimately made the correct decision to sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” Hegseth said Tuesday. he said.
Hegseth and the White House faced additional questions about the legality of attacks targeting alleged drug traffickers after the Washington Post reported Friday that Hegseth verbally ordered that everyone aboard the alleged drug ship be killed in a Sept. 2 sting operation.
President Donald Trump announced on October 14, 2025 that the United States killed six people allegedly involved in drug trafficking on a boat in international waters near Venezuela. (realDonaldTrump/Real Social)
THE WHITE HOUSE SAID THAT THE CHIEF OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS ORDERED A DEADLY WAR ON THE CARIBBEAN ‘FOR DEADLY DEFENSE’ WITH HEGSETH’S SIGNATURE
The Post reported that a second attack was carried out to extract survivors from the boat.
The White House, meanwhile, when specifically asked about Hegseth’s instructions, disputed that Hegseth gave an initial order to ensure that everyone on board was killed.
But on Capitol Hill, amid concerns that the second attack targeting survivors was illegal, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for greater oversight and accountability over the attacks.
Despite previous efforts in recent months to introduce a war powers resolution to thwart Trump’s ability to carry out those strikes and failing to muster enough support from Republicans for passage, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-Y., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced another war powers resolution Wednesday that would prohibit Trump from using U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks to reporters outside the Senate Democrats’ lunch meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Bill Clark/Getty Images)
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“Although President Trump campaigned on no more war, he and his administration are unilaterally moving us closer to union with Venezuela — and they are doing so without providing critical information to the American people about the campaign’s overall strategy, its legal rationale, and the potential consequences of a protracted conflict, including increased migration to our border,” Kaine said in a statement on Wednesday. he said.
The Trump administration has launched more than 20 strikes against alleged drug boats in Latin American waters and increased its military presence in the Caribbean in line with Trump’s goal of cracking down on drugs entering the United States.
