White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September following a bombshell Washington Post report that claimed he ordered the military to “kill everybody.”

Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing that Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out the second strike, which reportedly killed two people who were hanging onto the burning vessel after an initial strike.

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narcoterrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war. With respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Adm. Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” Leavitt said.

“Adm. Bradley worked well within his authority and the law to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated,” she continued. “This administration has designated these narcoterrorists as foreign terrorist organizations. The president has the right to take them out if they are threatening the United States of America, if they are bringing illegal narcotics that are killing our citizens at a record rate, which is what they are doing.”

The administration has been peppered with questions in the aftermath of the Post report claiming Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody” onboard before an initial strike.

Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern that the order amounted to a war crime.

According to the Post, an initial strike left two survivors, and Bradley ordered a follow-up strike to comply with Hegseth’s orders to leave no survivors.

>https://thehill.com/homenews/5628447-defense-secretary-authorizes-drug-boat-strike/