Donald Trump has expressed faith in his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following war crime allegations, but critics say his response shows how he plans to distance himself from the scandal.
The president was speaking to reporters on Sunday when he was pressed over claims that Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody” on board a boat allegedly smuggling drugs.
Highlights
- Donald Trump publicly backs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amid allegations he ordered a second lethal strike on Caribbean drug smuggling boats.
- Reports claim Hegseth verbally ordered to “kill everybody” in a September 2 strike; a second strike reportedly killed two surviving men.
- Bipartisan Senate investigation launched over the legality and conduct of lethal strikes on smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific.
- Critics accuse Trump of distancing himself from Hegseth, suggesting he may later blame the secretary if controversies worsen.
The incident relates to a September 2 strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean, which killed 11 people and marked the first of many strikes against such vessels.
Donald Trump backed his War Secretary, Pete Hegseth, but distanced himself at the same time
Image credits: Pete Marovich/Getty Images
Sources with knowledge of the operation told The Washington Post that the first strike on the boat left two survivors clinging to the wreckage in the water.
However, they said that to comply with Hegseth’s demand, the Special Operations commander overseeing the attack ordered a second strike that killed the two men.
“The order was to kill everybody,” a source told The Post.
The reporting has sparked a bipartisan investigation and raised serious legal concerns, but Trump backed Hegseth’s claim that the allegation was fabricated.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Trump said when questioned about the alleged order. “He said he did not say that, and I believe him 100 percent.”
“He said he didn’t do it, so I don’t have to make that decision,” the president replied.
Reporters continued to press Trump on the issue, to which he responded, “Number one, I don’t know that that happened … we’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike.
“The first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around … but Pete said that didn’t happen. I have great confidence in him.”
Trump later repeated Hegseth’s account, telling reporters, “I’m going to find out about it, but Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.”
Image credits: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
While he has publicly backed Hegseth, critics claim that his response revealed how he plans to “save himself” and “throw Hegseth under the bus.”
In a video, Democratic influencer Harry Sisson said a crucial part of Trump’s statement was that he said he would not have wanted a second strike.
“Donald Trump is getting ready to throw Pete Hegseth under the bus and blame him for their alleged war crimes and I don’t think Pete Hegseth knows it yet,” Sisson told his followers.
Other social media users also reached the same conclusion, with one writing, “So Trump now says he ‘would never have approved’ that second strike in the Caribbean — while he says Pete Hegseth denies it happened and that ‘He believes him.’ Is this Trump giving himself cover — and setting up Hegseth to take the fall if things go sideways?”
Hegseth allegedly ordered everyone on board the boat to be killed
“Surprise. Surprise. When the heat gets hot Trump starts throwing his accomplices off the ship into the water to be eaten by the sharks!” one user wrote.
Hegseth denied the allegations that he issued an order to kill everyone onboard the ship, and has insisted the strikes were legal.
He described the reporting as “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory,” writing on X that the “strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes.’”
The Trump administration has carried out strikes against at least 23 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, accused of drug smuggling, figures seen by The Post revealed.
More than 80 people have been killed during those operations over the past months.
Lawmakers from both sides will now probe the Hegseth allegations, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed announced in a statement on Saturday.
Image credits: Greg Fiume/Getty Images
“The Committee is aware of recent news reports and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” they said in the statement.
“The Committee has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Concerns over the strikes have been rampant for months, with Democratic Senators questioning the legality of the operations after being left out of a briefing in late October.
Sen. Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that Democrats had been excluded from a briefing on the strikes and that legal justification had been withheld from the Senate, describing it as “indefensible and dangerous.”
Holsey announced his intention to retire at the end of the year, less than a year into his three-year term.
The Pentagon has not provided evidence to back up its claim that those on board the vessels were smuggling drugs, and it has not complied with a bipartisan request to view unedited footage of the strikes.