Trump ‘wouldn’t have wanted’ second strike on Caribbean boat
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One yesterday, the president defended Hegseth, saying he believed his statement “100%” that he hadn’t ordered the second strike.
“I’m going to find out about it, but Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.”
When asked if he would have wanted a second attempt to kill the survivors, the president said:
We’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that – not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal.”
The Washington Post reported that Hegseth “gave a spoken directive” to “kill everybody” on board in September. When there were still two men left after the first strike, a Special Operations commander ordered the follow-up to comply with Hegseth’s direction, the newspaper reported.
Hegseth has strongly denied the report, calling it “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory”.
He also said the US’s strikes on boats so far in the Caribbean had been “lawful under both US and international law.”