President Trump dismissed a report claiming War Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that there be “no survivors” from a September military strike on a suspected narco-terrorist vessel, saying, “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men… And I believe him.”
The Washington Post reported that a Joint Special Operations commander launched a second strike after Hegseth allegedly gave a verbal order to “kill everybody,” but both Trump and Hegseth strongly refuted this, with Hegseth condemning the story as “fabricated” and asserting the mission involved “lethal, kinetic strikes” aimed at destroying narco-boats and killing terrorists.
The allegations sparked bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers warning that if true, the directive would violate US and international laws and potentially amount to a war crime.