Pete Hegseth said to kill everybody, officials say
During the first U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean, in September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave the directive to “kill them all,” according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. Today, The Post’s exclusive reporting on his order and the alarms it’s raising.
When the U.S. first struck a suspected drug-smuggling boat off the Trinidad coast on Sept. 2, two survivors were left clinging to the wreckage. In order to comply with the commands he’d been given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Special Operations commander ordered a second strike, according to two people familiar with the matter. It killed the two survivors.
Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with national security reporter Alex Horton about what this new information reveals about the Trump administration’s campaign against suspected drug smugglers.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Sabby Robinson and Reena Flores. It was edited by Ariel Plotnick and mixed by Sean Carter. Thanks to Ben Pauker.
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