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President Donald Trump on Sunday defended Secretary of Struggle Pete Hegseth over allegations he ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan drug boat, saying he believes Hegseth’s denial and wouldn’t have supported a follow-up assault if it occurred.
The alternate got here throughout a gaggle aboard Air Drive One as reporters pressed Trump on claims that Hegseth approved a second strike that allegedly killed two wounded males after an earlier assault on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel.
Trump repeatedly stated Hegseth denied giving such an order. He added that he was conscious of the allegation however harassed that Hegseth instructed him the declare was unfaithful and that he accepted that clarification with out hesitation.
“He stated he didn’t say that, and I imagine him 100%,” Trump stated.
HEGSETH SHARED DETAILS OF YEMEN STRIKES IN SECOND SIGNAL CHAT: REPORT
President Donald Trump defended Secretary of Struggle Pete Hegseth amid allegations he ordered a second strike on an alleged narcotics vessel within the Caribbean on Sept. 2, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs)
Reporters requested Trump whether or not he would have permitted a second strike if Hegseth had ordered one, prompting him to once more distance himself from the allegation whereas stressing that he trusted his secretary of warfare.
Trump stated he deliberate to hunt extra details about the reported incident however reiterated that Hegseth assured him nothing improper occurred.
“No, I wouldn’t have needed that. Not a second strike,” Trump stated.
DEM SEN JOHN FETTERMAN BACKS USE OF MILITARY FORCE TO COMBAT DRUG TRAFFICKING INTO US
Secretary of Struggle Pete Hegseth solutions a query from a reporter throughout a roundtable on legal cartels within the State Eating Room of the White Home, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Nonetheless, he praised the broader marketing campaign focusing on drug-smuggling boats, saying the strikes had sharply diminished the stream of narcotics into the U.S. by sea in latest months.
Trump argued the vessels posed a lethal menace and framed the operations as needed to guard People, calling the missions deadly however justified.
“You’ll be able to see the boats,” he stated. “You’ll be able to see the medication within the boats and every boat is liable for killing 25,000 People.”
TRUMP SAYS ‘DON’T READ ANYTHING INTO IT’ WHEN ASKED ABOUT DECLARING VENEZUELA’S AIRSPACE CLOSED
Video footage confirmed the vessel shortly earlier than it was destroyed. (@realDonaldTrump through Reality Social)
Trump went to Hegseth’s protection after stories from shops resembling The Washington Submit and CNN claimed the U.S. navy ordered a second strike on a suspected drug vessel within the Caribbean on Sept. 2 after the sooner assault left two survivors.
In accordance with The Washington Submit, the commander overseeing that operation instructed colleagues on a safe convention name that the survivors have been authentic targets as a result of they might nonetheless contact different traffickers for assist and ordered the second strike to adjust to what he stated was a directive from Hegseth that everybody should be killed.
“As ordinary, the faux information is delivering extra fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our unbelievable warriors preventing to guard the homeland,” Hegseth wrote on X on Friday.
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“As we’ve stated from the start and in each assertion, these extremely efficient strikes are particularly meant to be ‘deadly, kinetic strikes,’” Hegseth continued. “The declared intent is to cease deadly medication, destroy narco-boats and kill the narco-terrorists who’re poisoning the American individuals. Each trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Group.”
Fox Information Digital’s Greg Norman and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
