White House pushes back as scrutiny grows over deadly Navy strike on Venezuelan-linked boat

The United States White House has moved to distance itself from a controversial second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking vessel — an operation that killed survivors of an earlier U.S. attack and sparked accusations of a war crime.

At the center of the controversy is Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, who had reportedly authorised the broader mission. According to a report in The Washington Post, the second strike was ordered to “kill everybody,” a directive attributed to Hegseth.

During a press briefing, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt rejected that characterization. She clarified that while Hegseth authorised the mission, he did not instruct that all people aboard be killed. Instead, she asserted the strike was executed by Frank Bradley — then-commander of the Joint Special Operations Command — under what the administration claims were lawful orders carried out in international waters.

The White House insists the strike was “self-defence … to protect Americans and vital U.S. interests,” and that the engagement complied with the law of armed conflict.

Bradley is scheduled to give a classified briefing to Congressional committees on Thursday — a critical moment expected to shed light on the decision-making and chain of command behind the deadly follow-up attack.

Still, critics — including lawmakers and military-law experts — warn that ordering a second strike to eliminate survivors could amount to a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. To date, U.S. airstrikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have reportedly killed at least 83 people.