Did Hegseth order killing of drug-boat survivors amid Venezuela conflict? Trump breaks silence

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (Nov 30), broke his silence on media reports claiming that his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of survivors on the alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in September. Trump insisted that Hegseth has denied the claims and so that is the truth. The Post had reported that the US forces were ordered by Hegseth to kill the two survivors on the boat. Trump opined that he would have not wanted that, adding that he believes in what Hegseth said. In an attempt to build pressure on Venezeulan leader Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration has targeted a number of alleged drug-boats in the Caribbean Sea, killing several of those on-board.

Did Hegseth order US forces to kill survivors?

The Washington Post and CNN reported that the US troops were given a directive from Hegseth to kill everyone on-board the alleged drug vessels. The Post reported that on September 2, the US military conducted a follow-up strike after seeing two survivors of an initial attack. The report added that following the operation, protocols were changed to rescue any survivors. CNN claimed that it was not clear whether Hegseth was aware of the survivors before the second strike was carried out. Hegseth called the reports “fake news”. He added that the intent of the strikes was to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco boats, and kill the narco terrorists “who are poisoning the American people.” He added that the US operations in the Caribbean are lawful as per both US and international laws.

What Trump said?

Trump expressed his “great confidence” that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give a spoken order to kill all crew members. Trump said that Hegseth told him “he did not say that, and I believe him, 100 percent.” He also added that he would look into the issue. “I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal. It was fine,” the president told reporters.