Hegseth defends action in the Caribbean amid mounting questions

By CNN Newsource

Published December 6, 2025 2:31 PM

By Kaanita Iyer, Aleena Fayaz, CNN

(CNN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday defended the Trump administration’s military actions against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, saying they show “the strength of American resolve.”

“Right now the world is seeing the strength of American resolve in stemming the flow of lethal drugs to our country,” Hegseth said at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. “Here, again, we’ve been focused and here we’ve been clear: If you’re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you.”

Hegseth’s remarks come as the administration faces mounting scrutiny over its counter-drug offensive, including for ordering a follow-up strike that killed survivors on an alleged drug boat.

It is considered a war crime to kill shipwrecked people, which the Pentagon’s law of war manual defines as people “in need of assistance and care” who “must refrain from any hostile act.”

The September follow-up strike has drawn bipartisan scrutiny — including a vow from the Senate Armed Services Committee to conduct oversight.

Hegseth, his team at the Pentagon and the White House have pointed to Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, commander of US Special Operations Command, as the official who made the decision for a follow-up strike that killed survivors. Hegseth on Saturday defended Bradley’s decision.

“From what I understood then and what I understand now, I fully support that strike,” he said. “I would have made the same call myself.”

The incident was at the center of congressional briefings this week, during which lawmakers were told that Hegseth made clear before the mission that the strikes should be lethal, CNN reported, but that he was not made aware of the survivors until after they were killed, one of the sources with direct knowledge said.

Hegseth on Saturday denied giving a directive that everyone on board should be killed, calling the accusation “patently ridiculous.”

“No, you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them.’ It’s just patently ridiculous. It’s meant to create a cartoon of me and the decisions that we make and how we make them,” he said at the annual defense forum.

CNN exclusively reported this week that the two men killed in the secondary strike did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, according to sources with direct knowledge of Bradley’s congressional briefings. Defense officials had been quietly arguing the survivors were legitimate targets because they appeared to be radioing for help or backup — reinforcements that could have theoretically allowed them to continue to traffic the drugs aboard their ship.

As part of the congressional briefings, senior lawmakers saw a video of the military action, which left them divided along party lines, with a top Democrat calling it “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

When asked Saturday whether he plans to release the full video, Hegseth said, “We’re viewing the process, and we’ll see.” The defense secretary’s noncommittal answer differs from comments from President Donald Trump, who told reporters earlier this week his administration would “certainly” release video.

The broader counter-drug campaign has killed at least 87 people in strikes that have destroyed 23 boats. While the Trump administration has defended its actions by arguing the attacks are aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking, critics and legal experts have claimed the effort is likely unlawful.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Haley Britzky and Katie Bo Lillis contributed to this report.