The White House moved Monday to shut down mounting speculation surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the controversial second strike on a Venezuelan vessel in September, revealing for the first time that it was not Hegseth who ordered the follow-up attack — but a senior military commander acting within his lawful authority.
Hegseth has faced bipartisan scrutiny in recent days as critics questioned whether the second strike, carried out against survivors of an initial attack on a suspected narco-trafficking boat, might constitute a war crime. But Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt used Monday’s briefing to firmly push back on that narrative.
Reading from a prepared statement, Leavitt said: “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.”
The admission marks the administration’s most direct explanation to date about who made the call for the second strike after survivors were spotted in the water. Reporters pressed Leavitt for specifics.
CBS’s Gabe Gutierrez asked: “Admiral Bradley was the one that gave an order for a second strike?”
Leavitt answered decisively: “And he was well within his authority to do so.”
Adm. Frank Bradley, who became commander of U.S. Special Operations Command on October 3, now appears to be the official responsible for authorizing both phases of the September 2 operation.
Leavitt also used the briefing to remind the public why the administration is carrying out lethal strikes on vessels tied to Venezuela’s narcotics networks.
“Because this administration has designated these narco-terrorists as a foreign terrorist organization, the 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,” she said.
Leavitt emphasized the contrast between Trump’s aggressive strategy and the failures of the previous administration.
“Under the last administration, there was enough fentanyl trafficked into our country to kill every American man, woman, and child many times over,” she explained. “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 supports this secretary of War in conducting these strikes.”
The administration has insisted that all military actions taken against designated narco-terror groups are lawful, justified, and necessary to protect American lives. Monday’s clarification appears designed to quiet claims that Hegseth personally violated international law while reaffirming the administration’s hard-line posture toward drug-smuggling networks operating under the protection of Venezuela’s regime.
The Pentagon has not yet commented further on Adm. Bradley’s role, but the White House message was unmistakable: the strikes were legal, the threat was real, and the administration stands fully behind its military commanders.
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