President Trump said Wednesday that he has “no problem” releasing footage from a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September that has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and military experts for killing survivors of the initial attack.
“We’d certainly release it, no problem,” Mr. Trump said in remarks from the White House to discuss fuel efficiency standards.
The president defended the attacks, saying they have saved 25,000 American lives and have resulted in a 91% reduction in the amount of drugs coming into the United States.
“I don’t know who’s doing 9%, but it’s down 91% and we’re going to start [attacks] very soon on land,” Mr. Trump said.
The Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been confronted with questions about the use of force to destroy a vessel they say was carrying drugs to America. After an initial strike destroyed the boat, a second strike reportedly killed two survivors of the first strike.
Some lawmakers and legal experts say the second strike violated the laws of armed conflict and may have amounted to a war crime. The second strike has raised concerns among lawmakers of both parties.
“These are serious charges and that’s the reason we’re going to have special oversight,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican and chair of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
Mr. Hegseth on Tuesday defended the follow-up strike, citing the fog of war. He said there were explosions and fire from the first strike, and said he did not see survivors in the water when the second strike was launched. He accused critics of second-guessing his actions.
The embattled defense secretary said the strikes have led to a massive reduction in drug boat trafficking, stopping the flow of narcotics and saving American lives.
“It’s hard to find boats to strike right now, which is the entire point, right? Deterrence has to matter, not arrest and hand over and then do it again, the rinse-and-repeat approach of previous administrations,” Mr. Hegseth said.
He insisted that the drug strikes would continue despite the outrage on Capitol Hill, because Mr. Trump is “taking the gloves off.”
“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,” Mr. Hegseth said. “And Joe Biden tried to approach it with kid gloves, allowed drugs to come across the border.”
The U.S. strikes have destroyed 22 vessels and killed 83 people.
