Pete Hegseth defended the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the aftermath of the controversy over his role in a "double tap" operation. The defense secretary has been on the back foot after The Washington Post reported he gave the order to kill the survivors of a U.S. military strike, raising questions about its legality. The White House and the Pentagon have since claimed the commanding admiral gave the order, not Hegseth, though the defense secretary supports the decision. At a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Hegseth did not address the Sept. 2 attack directly but was in a defiant mood. "We've only just begun striking 'narco boats' and putting 'narco terrorists' at the bottom of the ocean, because they've been poisoning the American people," he said while sitting next to Trump.

Source: Huffington Post December 02, 2025 12:12 UTC