Amid the ongoing row over Pete Hegseth’s alleged direction to kill everyone aboard a suspected drug vessel, the White House clarified on Monday that the admiral ordered the strikes after receiving the appropriate authorization from the US defense secretary.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a news conference that Hegseth had authorized a US Navy admiral to carry out the strikes, according to AFP.
Leavitt added that the admiral authorized a second strike on the ship and was within his legal right to do so.
Admiral Frank Bradley “acted well within his authority and the law that mandated the engagement to ensure the destruction of the boat and the elimination of the threat to the United States of America,” a White House spokesman was quoted as saying by the news agency.
A White House statement on the ongoing standoff backed up Hegseth’s earlier claim that all actions taken were “in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” following the publication of a report by The Washington Post that alleged a direct role for the US defense secretary in ordering the subsequent strike.
After the initial rocket attack on the boat, which had 11 people on board, two survivors were reportedly seen clinging to the wreckage. The subsequent “double tap” strike was reportedly ordered to comply with Hegseth’s directive to leave no survivors and killed all 11 people, The Washington Post said in its report.
As the news sparked political controversy, the US Secretary of Defense at the time called it “fake news” in a lengthy post on X.
“As usual, fake news is bringing more fabricated, inflammatory and defamatory stories to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” Hegseth wrote.
“As we have said from the beginning and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes.’ The stated intent is to stop deadly drugs, destroy narco-ships, and kill narco-terrorists who are a nuisance to the American people. Every trafficker we kill is associated with a designated terrorist organization,” the US defense secretary added.
He also criticized the former Biden administration for a “kid-glove approach” that was allegedly responsible for “allowing millions of people — including dangerous cartels and unvetted Afghans — to flood the US.”
What did Trump say about the drug boat row?
Monday’s White House statement on the matter comes after US President Donald Trump earlier defended his defense secretary.
“I’m going to find out, but Pete said he didn’t order the death of those two men,” Trump said, according to Bloomberg.
Asked if the subsequent strike would be legal, he said: “No, I wouldn’t want that, or a second strike. The first strike was very deadly.”
