A top US Navy commander ordered a second round of military strikes against a suspected Venezuelan drug trafficking ship, the White House confirmed.
“Admiral (Frank) Bradley worked well within his authority and the law” in ordering the additional strike, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
Leavitt confirmed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the attacks but did not give the order to “kill everyone,” as the Washington Post reported. The second attack reportedly occurred after two people survived the initial explosion and clung to the burning container.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the report and have promised that Congress will review the attacks.
“President (Donald) Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made clear that narcoterrorist groups designated by the president are subject to lethal attacks under the laws of war,” Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing.
The press secretary did not confirm that the first attack left two survivors, nor that the second attack was intended to kill them.
Media reports that Hegseth had given the order to kill everyone aboard the ship during the September 2 attack have renewed concerns about the legality of US military strikes against suspected drug trafficking ships in the Caribbean.
Hegseth has rejected the allegations contained in the report, calling them “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory.” On Monday, he tweeted that Admiral Bradley “is an American hero, a true professional and has my full support.”
“I support him and the combat decisions he has made, on the September 2 mission and all others since.”
In recent weeks, the United States has expanded its military presence in the Caribbean and carried out a series of lethal attacks against suspected drug trafficking vessels in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia, as part of what it calls an anti-narcotics operation.
More than 80 people have been killed in the attacks since early September.
The Trump administration says it is acting in self-defense by destroying ships carrying illicit drugs to the United States.
The attacks have also significantly increased tensions with Venezuela. Trump has repeatedly said he is considering deploying US ground forces to the country.
They have also led to greater scrutiny among US lawmakers.
Over the weekend, the Senate Armed Services Committee said it would “conduct vigorous oversight to determine the facts” related to the attacks.
The committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Roger Wicker, said Monday that lawmakers plan to interview the “admiral who was in charge of the operation.” He added that audio and videos were also being requested to “see what the orders were.”
The House Armed Services Committee also said it would lead a “bipartisan action to assemble a full accounting of the operation in question.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a body made up of America’s highest-ranking military officers, met with the House and Senate armed services committees over the weekend.
Discussions focused on operations in the region and “the intent and legality of missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks,” the group said.
Several experts who spoke to the BBC have raised serious doubts that the second attack on the alleged survivors can be considered legal under international law. Survivors may have been subject to protections provided to shipwrecked sailors or those granted to troops who could not continue fighting.
The Trump administration has said its operations in the Caribbean are a non-international armed conflict with suspected drug traffickers.
The rules of engagement in such armed conflicts – as set out in the Geneva Conventions – prohibit attacking wounded participants, saying instead that those participants must be detained and treated.
During former President Barack Obama’s administration, the U.S. military came under scrutiny for firing multiple rounds from drones, in a practice known as “double tap,” which sometimes resulted in civilian casualties.
On Sunday, Venezuela’s National Assembly condemned the attacks on the ships and promised to carry out a “rigorous and exhaustive investigation” into the September 2 attacks.
The Venezuelan government has accused the United States of stoking tensions in the region, with the goal of overthrowing the government.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Trump’s accusations arise from “great envy” of the country’s natural resources.
He also called for direct dialogue between the governments of the United States and Venezuela, “to clean up the toxic atmosphere that we have witnessed since July of last year.”
On Sunday, Trump confirmed that he had had a brief phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, in which he pressured him to resign and leave Venezuela with his family.
During last month’s call, Trump reportedly told Maduro that he could go to any destination of his choosing, but only if he agreed to leave immediately. Following his refusal, Trump posted on social media that the airspace over Venezuela should be considered “completely closed.”
Maduro requested amnesty for his top advisers and to be allowed to continue control of the army after resigning from the government. Trump rejected both demands, according to The Miami Post and Reuters, information that the BBC has not confirmed.
U.S. officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of a “terrorist” organization called the Cartel of the Suns, which they say includes senior Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking. Maduro has denied the claims.
With additional reporting by Lucy Gilder and Thomas Copeland
