White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt upended a legacy media narrative on Monday when she revealed that War Secretary Pete Hegseth had not given the order to execute a second strike on a drug boat, and who, in fact, had given it.
Leavitt dumped cold water on a story — published Saturday by The Washington Post — that quickly became the talk of the Sunday political shows. The story detailed what had happened in the aftermath of the first kinetic strike on narco-terrorists, and alleged that a second strike order was given, on Hegseth’s authority, to “kill them all” when the first hit left two survivors clinging to the wreckage of the boat.
WATCH:
When asked about a report that Secretary Hegseth ordered the military to kill all passengers aboard a boat suspected of ferrying drugs in September, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Adm. Mitch Bradley made the order for the second strike. https://t.co/OCgRFWVPPM pic.twitter.com/kWNoEeLY4I
— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2025
Leavitt was pressed on the story during Monday’s briefing, when CBS News reporter Gabe Gutierrez asked her to clarify whether the administration was denying that a second strike had taken place or simply denying that Hegseth had given the order for a second strike to be carried out.
“The latter is true,” Leavitt declared. “And I have a statement to read for you here. ‘President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially-designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war.”
“With respect to the strikes in question on September 2nd, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated,” Leavitt continued.
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The press secretary jabbed at former President Joe Biden’s administration, adding, “Under the previous administration, there was enough fentanyl trafficked into our country to kill every American man, woman, and child many times over. That is why you have seen a drastic difference in this administration’s policy with respect to the last. It is one of the many reasons the American public reelected this president and support this Secretary of War in conducting these strikes.”
Gutierrez asked once more: “Admiral Bradley was the one that gave an order for a second strike?”
“And he was well within his authority to do so,” Leavitt shot back.
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