President Donald Trump defended Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Sunday after reports surfaced claiming Hegseth ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan drug-smuggling boat.
According to Fox News, Trump said he fully believes Hegseth’s denial and would not have supported a follow-up attack if it occurred.
The exchange unfolded aboard Air Force One as reporters questioned Trump about allegations that Hegseth authorized a second, lethal strike that killed two wounded survivors following an earlier attack on a suspected narcotics vessel.
Trump emphasized that Hegseth told him the accusation was false.
“He said he did not say that, and I believe him 100%,” Trump said.
Pressed on whether he would have approved a second strike if it had been ordered, Trump distanced himself from the claim. He said he trusted Hegseth and reaffirmed that the secretary assured him no improper directive had been issued.
“No, I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not a second strike,” Trump said.
Trump added that he intended to seek additional information about the reported incident but reiterated his confidence in Hegseth’s account.
At the same time, Trump praised the broader military campaign aimed at targeting drug-smuggling boats, saying the operations had sharply reduced the flow of narcotics into the United States. He argued the vessels pose a deadly threat.
“You can see the boats,” he said. “You can see the drugs in the boats, and each boat is responsible for killing 25,000 Americans.”
Trump’s comments followed reporting from outlets including The Washington Post and CNN, which claimed the U.S. military launched a second strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean on Sept. 2 after two men survived the initial attack.
According to The Washington Post, the commander overseeing the mission told colleagues the wounded survivors still posed a threat because they could communicate with other traffickers. He allegedly justified the second strike by saying Hegseth had ordered that “everyone must be killed.”
Hegseth forcefully rejected that account in a statement on Friday on X.
“As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” he wrote.
He defended the strategy behind the maritime operations.
“As we’ve said from the beginning and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes,’” Hegseth said. “The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
The incident remains under review.
