The Trump administration is facing a political and legal firestorm after reports that its forces launched a second attack on a boat in the Caribbean that Washington claims after two people survived the initial attack.
At the heart of the dispute are two questions: Who ordered the second strike on the boats in September, and was it legal?
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Here’s what we know:
what happened
On 2 September 2025, American troops attacked A boat in the Caribbean during Operation Southern Spear, a major campaign that President Donald Trump’s administration claims is aimed at dismantling drug-trafficking networks.
The First strike The ship was destroyed and nine people were killed. Two people who clung to the debris survived.
Accordingly The Washington PostDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal instruction, described in his report as an “order to kill everyone”.
The mission’s commander, Admiral Frank Bradley, later ordered a second strike – which killed two survivors.
Experts called the second attack – known in military parlance as a “double tap” strike – illegal. The strike has drawn criticism not only from Democrats, but also from many Republicans in Congress, who have vowed to investigate what happened.
The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee announced Friday that it plans to ensure “oversight” of the strike. “The committee is aware of recent news reports – and the Department of Defense’s initial response – about alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the Southcom area of responsibility,” the committee’s chairmen, Republican Senator Roger Wicker and Democratic Senator Jack Reed, said in a statement. “The committee has directed the department to investigate and we will conduct vigorous monitoring to ascertain the facts related to the situation,” he said.
The House Armed Services Committee separately said it was seeking a “full accounting of the operation in question”.
Congressional committees have sought audio recordings and other evidence to show how the order was given.
So far, the US has been hit by extensive operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean More than 80 people and targeted more than 20 boats.
What did Pete Hegseth say?
Hegseth called the report “fake news” on social media, saying the boat strike “obeyed the laws of armed conflict – and was sanctioned by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command”.
But he was also seen justifying the double whammy.
“Declared intent is to stop deadly drugs, destroy narco-bots and kill narco-terrorists who poison the American people,” Hegseth said in a social media post Friday evening. “Every trafficker we kill is associated with a designated terrorist organization.”
Earlier this year, the Trump administration formally designated the Venezuelan gang Train de Aragua as a terrorist group. It also accuses Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading this organization Poster of Surya – which US officials describe as a drug-trafficking network involving senior figures in the country’s government and armed forces.
In reality, the Cartel de los Solos is not a cartel at all – a broad term used by Venezuela for corrupt senior officials. And the US administration’s own Drug Enforcement Agency lists other countries – not Venezuela – as major sources of narcotics entering the US. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Tren de Aragua is a front for Maduro, despite his own intelligence agencies concluding that there is no connection between the gang and the Venezuelan president.
As always, the fake news continues to produce more fake, inflammatory and outrageous reports to defame our incredible warriors fighting to defend the motherland.
As we have said from the beginning, and in every statement, this highly effective strike is particularly…
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) 28 November 2025
Are Trump and the White House at odds?
Responding to questions on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said his administration would “investigate” reports of a second attack on the boat on Sept. 2.
But he added that “I didn’t want that – no second strike.”
He noted that Hegseth told him “he did not order the deaths of those two.”
In nearly two dozen subsequent U.S. military attacks on the boats, the U.S. military has, in many cases, helped rescue survivors and then returned them to their countries of origin.
However, in contrast to Trump’s statement, White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt echoed Hegseth on September 2 when she endorsed a second strike.
“The strike on September 2 was conducted in self-defense to protect American and vital United States interests. The strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict,” she said in response to a reporter’s question Monday evening.
So who approved the strike?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized several strikes in September on a Venezuelan ship carrying illegal narcotics that killed 11 people, the White House said. https://t.co/panDtNSmVQ pic.twitter.com/pMJkyAvt2E
— Reuters (@Reuters) 2 December 2025
According to the White House, Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to “strike” on September 2—suggesting that the defense secretary authorized the mission commander to go ahead with multiple attacks on the boat if necessary.
“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct this kinetic strike,” Leavitt said at a media briefing Monday.
But the actual decision to strike second was Bradley’s, Leavitt said.
“Admiral Bradley acted well within his authority and within the law. He destroyed the boat and directed the engagement to ensure that the narco-terrorist threat to the United States was completely eliminated,” she said.
The important question is who gave that order
According to experts, killing survivors of the second strike was illegal.
“Instead of due process and a criminal trial, the Trump administration has decided to be judge, jury and executioner, and these individuals are carrying drugs, ordering them to be killed, which is extrajudicial killing, which is murder,” Rachel VanLandingham, a military expert at Southwestern Law School, told Al Jazeera.
“This second strike against shipwrecked persons, clinging helplessly to the side of their boat’s wreck – is a war crime. It is a war crime because shipwrecked persons have a protected status under the law, unless someone is shot with a gun, for example. But, otherwise, they are protected,” she added.
Legally, the US can only use force if there is a real threat, so identifying the decision-maker is important to determine whether a strike complies with the rules, experts said.