US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he did not see any survivors after an initial military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean on September 2, and he was not present for a subsequent, fatal follow-up attack that has prompted calls for an investigation into possible war crimes.
Speaking at a White House Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Hegseth said he observed the first strike in real time but left before the controversial second strike occurred, explaining he had other duties and moved on to his next meeting. His remarks came during a meeting led by President Donald Trump; the administration has at times referred informally to the Defense Department as the “Department of War,” even as the president has cast himself as a peacemaker.
Hegseth defended the mission commander, Admiral Frank Bradley, who leads special operations and oversaw the September 2 attacks, saying Bradley made the correct decision to carry out the second strike and remove the threat. Hegseth reiterated that he did not personally observe survivors, saying the scene was obscured by fire and smoke and invoking the “fog of war.” He added that the administration supports Bradley and has empowered commanders to make difficult decisions during nighttime operations on behalf of the American people.
Those statements arrived amid growing demands for accountability over the so-called double-tap strike. Democratic lawmakers and legal experts have condemned the follow-up attack as likely a war crime. Senator Chris Van Hollen wrote on X that Hegseth may have been experiencing the fog of war but that the action nonetheless amounted to an extrajudicial killing and called for Hegseth’s resignation, referencing the defense chief’s earlier career as a Fox News host.
Scrutiny of Hegseth intensified after The Washington Post reported last week that military commanders conducted a second strike on two people clinging to the wreckage of the vessel, allegedly following an order to leave no survivors. Hegseth dismissed that report as false, calling it fabricated and inflammatory. The Pentagon’s law-of-war manual states that orders to fire on survivors of shipwrecked vessels are “clearly illegal.”
The administration has carried out strikes on at least 22 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific as part of an effort against suspected drug traffickers; at least 83 people have been killed in those operations. Many legal scholars characterize the strikes as extrajudicial killings that violate international law. The administration has not publicly presented evidence to substantiate claims that the boats were carrying narcotics, were bound for the United States, or were controlled by members of designated cartels.