White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defends September Caribbean strikes against alleged drug boats amid congressional calls for Pentagon oversight.
The White House confirmed and defended conducting a second strike against alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean in September, amid the Trump administration’s crusade targeting the influx of drugs into the U.S.
The White House’s statement comes after the reported Friday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth verbally ordered that a Sept. 2 attack kill everyone on board the alleged drug boat, drawing scrutiny from lawmakers who are requesting additional oversight into the strikes. The Post reported that a second strike was conducted to take out the remaining survivors on the boat.
Although the Pentagon pushed back against the report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not deny that a second strike occurred and told reporters Monday that the strike Sept. 2 was conducted « in self-defense » in international waters « in accordance with the law of armed conflict. »
The White House said Monday that Hegseth authorized the second strike, but the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Frank « Mitch » Bradley, ordered and directed it. At the time of the strike, Bradley was serving as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, which falls under U.
