The White House implied on Monday, December 1, that the U.S. executed a second attack on survivors of a first bombing against a boat with alleged links to drug trafficking in September in the Caribbean, but insisted on its legality and exonerated Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of any responsibility, at a time when Congress is preparing to investigate a possible war crime.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called the claim that Hegseth did not give the order directly “true” when asked by a reporter at a press conference.
Peter Hegseth gave the order for second attack on narco-boat
After days of denying the story as “fake news,” now Karoline Leavitt says OF COURSE they ordered a second strike, and it was very legal and very cool, and they found an Admiral to take the fall to protect Trump and Hegseth. I hope Admiral Bradley is lawyering up. pic.twitter.com/iHrijIQaAI
– David Pakman (@dpakman) December 1, 2025
He then read a statement in which the Administration maintains that the controversial attack, revealed by The Washington Post, “took place in international waters and was in accordance with the Law of Armed Conflict.”
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal attacks in accordance with the laws of war.
“With respect to the attacks in question, on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral (Frank) Bradley to conduct these kinetic attacks,” Leavitt read.
“Admiral Bradley acted effectively, within the framework of his authority and the law governing the operation, to ensure the destruction of the ship and the elimination of the threat to the United States of America,” he added.
Frank Bradley is a U.S. Navy admiral who at the time of the attack was commander of the Joint Special Operations Command.
The Washington Post reported last Thursday, November 27, citing unnamed officials, that in the September 2 bombing that killed the 11 people aboard a suspected drug boat, a second attack was carried out to kill two survivors of the initial attack.
Leavitt, who considered the newspaper’s information to be false, limited herself to re-reading the statement when asked what law authorizes not leaving survivors.
The spokeswoman stressed that the reason the Pentagon is attacking these ships in the Caribbean and the Pacific is because “this Administration has designated these narco-terrorists as foreign terrorist organizations.”
“The president has made it very clear that if narco-terrorists are trafficking illegal drugs into the United States, he has the authority to eliminate them, and that is what this administration is doing,” he concluded.
Several heavyweight congressional committees are stepping up oversight, sending out requests for information and preparing reviews in the coming days regarding the aforementioned attack.
Filed under: Peter Hegseth narco boat
With information from EFE
