After Boat Attack, 2 Survivors Were Blown Out of Water: WaPo

A new report reveals that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly gave a chilling order during the Trump administration's first military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean. "The order was to kill everybody," a source said to be familiar with the operation tells the Washington Post of the Sept. 2 attack, which involved a US missile striking a boat off the coast of Trinidad, burning it and its 11 occupants.

When two survivors were seen clinging to the wreckage, a second strike was allegedly ordered to finish the job, reportedly to fulfill Hegseth's directive. The Pentagon's ongoing campaign against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean region has killed more than 80 people so far. Some officials and legal experts warn these actions may be unlawful, exposing participants to possible future prosecution. They argue that the alleged traffickers weren't any kind of imminent threat to the US and that the situation doesn't constitute an "armed conflict," as the Trump administration claims. One former military lawyer says, absent an official war designation, an order to kill individuals on these boats "amounts to murder."

Even in armed conflicts, the Geneva Conventions dictate that hurt or sick combatants "are to be collected and cared for by either side," reports ABC News. The Pentagon has defended the operations as effective and lawful. Hegseth took to X on Friday evening, noting the boat attacks have been "highly effective strikes [that] are specifically intended to be 'lethal, kinetic strikes.'" He added: "Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command."

After the incident, protocols were reportedly changed to emphasize rescuing survivors, but lawmakers remain skeptical, with Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton calling official explanations "absurd" and the killings "blatantly illegal," per the Post. Some members of Congress are now calling for more oversight. The Trump administration hasn't provided detailed evidence linking those targeted to terrorist organizations, and there are significant gaps in the released videos of the strikes.