When asked about the report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the military to kill all passengers aboard a boat suspected of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea in September, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Adm. Mitch Bradley made the order for the second strike.
“Adm. Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was completely eliminated.”
“The initial order, from Secretary Haig said, ‘everyone be killed,’ and that came from President Trump,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt added the strike was “conducted in self-defense to protect Americans and vital United States interests.”
She said President Donald Trump “has a right to take them out if they are threatening the United States of America.”
Leavitt’s comments come after Trump said on Sunday evening that he would not have wanted a second strike to kill survivors aboard alleged drug boats. Trump was also adamant that Hegseth denied ordering a second strike to kill survivors.
“I don’t know that that happened, and Pete said he did not want — he didn’t even know what people were talking about. So we’ll look at — 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,” said Trump.
Source: abc news
