The White House defended the U.S. military’s actions in the Caribbean after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Admiral Bradley was within his legal authority when he ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan boat. The comment came during a tense White House briefing, as reporters pressed for details on the timeline and justification behind the operation.
According to Leavitt, the decision followed established rules of engagement and was made in real time based on the threat assessment presented by U.S. forces in the region. She emphasized that the administration stands by the admiral’s judgment and rejected claims that the second strike constituted excessive force.
00:00The Press, regarding Venezuela, the President said yesterday that Secretary Hegsat had denied that that second strike,
00:08that reported second strike on an alleged drug vote on September 2nd, the Secretary said to the President that that didn't happen.
00:16But to clarify, I just wanted you to clear this up.
00:19In his social media posts, Secretary Hegsat didn't go into details about that strike.
00:24He just said U.S. operations in the area were lawful, and he said that the story and media reports were fabricated.
00:30And to be clear, does the administration deny that that second strike happened, or did it happen and the administration denies that Secretary Hegsat gave the order?
00:39The latter is true, Abe, and I have a statement to read for you here.
00:42President Trump and Secretary Hegsat have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war.
00:53With respect to the strikes in question on September 2nd, Secretary Hegsat authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes.
01:02Admiral 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.
01:12And I would just add one more point to remind the American public why these lethal strikes are taking place.
01:18Because this administration has designated these narco-terrorists as foreign terrorist organizations.
01:24The president has a right to take them out if they are threatening the United States of America, and if they are bringing illegal narcotics that are killing our citizens at a record rate, which is what they are doing.
01:34And under the previous administration, there was enough fentanyl trafficked into our country to kill every American man, woman, and child many times over.
01:44And so that's why you've seen a drastic difference in this administration's policy with respect to the last.
01:49And it's one of the many reasons the American public reelected this president and support this secretary of war in conducting these strikes.
01:56So to be fair, to clarify, Admiral Bradley was the one who gave that order for a second strike.
02:00And he was well within his authority to do so.
02:02And in a separate question, the president, several days ago, said it was his intention to pardon the former president of Honduras, who was a convicted drug trafficker.
02:13And yesterday on Air Force One, the president said that if someone sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life.
02:22How is that different than what the administration is accusing Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro of?
02:27You're cherry picking the president's statement a little bit yesterday.
02:30As he also said yesterday, the people of Honduras have highlighted to him how the former president, Hernandez, was set up.
02:37This was a clear Biden over-prosecution.
02:41He was the president of this country.
02:42He was in the opposition party.
02:44He was opposed to the values of the previous administration.
02:47And they charged him because he was president of Honduras.
02:51There were some other egregious facts that came out.
02:54There were some other egregious facts that came.
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