Hegseth says ‘we’ve only just begun’ putting alleged drug boats at ‘bottom of the ocean’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking at President Donald Trump’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, said that “we’ve only just begun” striking alleged drug boats, saying they will be put “at the bottom of the ocean.”

“We’ve only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narcoterrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they’ve been poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth’s comments come after he has faced bipartisan scrutiny over reports that the U.S. military killed two survivors of an earlier strike on a boat suspected of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea in September.

The White House acknowledges that a second strike was ordered on a boat already hit by the military in the Caribbean Sea, and ABC News has confirmed that survivors from the initial strike were killed as a result.

Experts in the military code say this was clearly illegal, but The White House said Monday that Navy Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley ordered the second strike and was “within his authority and the law.”

The military operation has come under bipartisan scrutiny from lawmakers after The Washington Post reported that that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed two survivors on the boat.

Trump vigorously defended Hegseth on Sunday. “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said. “And I believe him.” Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers overseeing the military.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.