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The White House confirmed Monday that a top US Navy commander, Admiral Frank Bradley, ordered a second round of military strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Bradley's actions as "well within his authority and the law," further clarifying that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the initial September 2 strikes but did not issue the verbal order to "kill everybody" on board, an allegation first reported by the Washington Post.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the report and have said they support congressional reviews of the boat strikes.
"President Donald Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war," Leavitt said during the Monday press briefing.
"The president has a right to take them out if they are threatening the United States of America," she said.
Leavitt added that Trump is meeting with his national security team in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss Venezuela, along with other matters.
Media reports that Hegseth had given the directive to kill all those on board the vessel have renewed concerns about the legality of US military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.
In recent weeks, the US has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean and carried out a series of lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia, as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics operation.
More than 80 people have been killed in the strikes since early September.
The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defence by destroying boats carrying illicit drugs to the US. "The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people," Hegseth wrote on X.
Hegseth spoke with members of Congress over the weekend who had expressed concerns, Leavitt said. Hegseth had pushed back against accusations in the report on Friday, calling them "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory".
President Trump said on Sunday he believed his defence secretary "100%".
