Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
President Donald Trump has defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Report that he ordered a second military attack The first attack on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in September failed, killing all on board.
House and Senate have started investigating this “Double Tap Strike” reported by US Navy SEALs on September 2 on board the ship in the Caribbean, which Democratic Senator Mark Kelly said appeared to be a war crime.
“Going after survivors in the water is clearly not legal,” Kelly said on CNN on Sunday. “If what has been reported is accurate, I have serious concerns.”
Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, said: “If true this rises to the level of a war crime.”
Hegseth reportedly gave a verbal order to “kill everyone” on an alleged narco-terrorist ship as the Trump administration launched the first of more than a dozen. attacks on boats More than 80 people have died in the last three months.
But Trump endorsed Hegseth when asked by reporters on Sunday. “He said he didn’t say that, and I believe him 100 percent,” Trump said.
The president said, “I didn’t want this – not another attack.”
Hegseth said the attacks were “lawful under both US and international law.”
House and Senate launch investigation into second strike
Under Republican leadership, given the GOP’s double majority in Congress, military-focused committees are generally protected to some degree from the partisan divide that defines other policy committees and powerful groups like the House Oversight Committee.
“The Committee is aware of recent news reports and the Department of Defense’s initial response regarding alleged follow-up attacks on suspected narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the Republican and Democratic senators who lead the House Armed Services Committee said in a joint statement Friday.
“The Committee has directed the Department to investigate, and we will conduct a vigorous investigation to determine the facts surrounding these circumstances.”
Ryan Lubin1 December 2025 10:15
Trump came to Hegseth’s defense
President Donald Trump defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when asked about military action.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Hegseth had not given a verbal order to “kill everybody.”
“He said he didn’t say that, and I believe him 100 percent,” Trump said.
When the President was asked whether he believed a second attack was legitimate if orders were given to kill survivors of the first attack, he responded, “I don’t know that that was the case.”
“Pete said he didn’t want it to happen – he didn’t even know what people were talking about,” Trump said, adding that he would “look into it.”
“I didn’t want that. Not a second attack. The first attack was very deadly. It would have been fine, and if there had been two people around, but Pete said that didn’t happen. I have a lot of confidence.”
Ryan Lubin1 December 2025 09:16
Survivors on a targeted ‘narco boat’ were blown up under Trump’s orders after Hegseth’s verbal order to ‘kill them all’.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly gave verbal orders not to release any survivors as Donald Trump’s administration launched the first of more than a dozen attacks on alleged drug-running boats that have killed more than 80 people in the past three months.
On September 2, US military personnel fired a missile, striking a ship in the Caribbean that was carrying 11 people accused of drug smuggling into the United States.
When two survivors emerged from the debris, a special operations commander monitoring the attack ordered a second attack to follow Hegseth’s instructions to “kill them all”. according to Washington PostCiting officials with direct knowledge of the operation.
Ryan Lubin, Alex Woodward1 December 2025 09:08