President Trump is standing by Pete Hegseth amid controversy over a deadly military strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the Pentagon chief did not order a second strike specifically to kill two survivors from the initial strike. "Pete said he did not order the deaths of those two men," said Trump, adding that "I believe him 100%," reports the Guardian and Fox News. The president added that he personally wouldn't have seen a second strike as necessary. "No, I wouldn't have wanted that," he said. "Not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine."
The allegations, first reported by the Washington Post, center on a Sept. 2 operation in the Caribbean. Just before it was carried out, Hegseth allegedly gave a verbal order to kill everybody on the boat. After a first strike badly damaged the vessel and left two survivors clinging to the wreckage, the special-ops commander of the operation allegedly ordered the second strike to comply with the "kill everybody" directive.
In defending Hegseth, Trump praised the broader military campaign against drug boats but said the allegations would be investigated. "I'm going to find out about it," he said. Congress also plans an investigation: Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said that if the reporting about a strike to kill survivors is accurate, "it's a clear violation of the DOD's own laws of war" and might be a war crime. Hegseth has strongly pushed back. "As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland," he tweeted.
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