C2025-11

Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them allAs two men clung to a stricken, burning ship targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations commander followed the defense secretary’s order to leave no survivors.November 28, 2025 at 12:29 p.m. ESTToday at 12:29 p.m. EST9 minSummary1,402(The Washington Post)By Alex Horton and Ellen NakashimaReach the reporters securely on Signal: Alex Horton at AlexHorton.85 and Ellen Nakashima at Ellen.626.The longer the U.S. surveillance aircraft followed the boat, the more confident intelligence analysts watching from command centers became that the 11 people on board were ferrying drugs.Powered By 31.7K 0 .clsx-1{isolation:isolate;}.clsx-2{fill:#ff3e5f;}.clsx-3{fill:#fff;}Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. “The order was to kill everybody,” one of them said.A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. wp-ad#slug_enterprise:empty::after { content: "Advertisement"; width: 100%; height: 250px; max-height: auto; } @media (max-width: 970px) { wp-ad#slug_enterprise:empty::after { width: 100%; } } wp-ad-wrapper:has(#slug_enterprise:not(:empty))::before { content: 'Advertisement'; } The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water. wp-ad#slug_mob_enterprise:empty::after { content: "Advertisement"; width: 100%; height: 600px; max-height: auto; } @media (max-width: 970px) { wp-ad#slug_mob_enterprise:empty::after { width: 100%; } } wp-ad-wrapper:has(#slug_mob_enterprise:not(:empty))::before { content: 'Advertisement'; } Hegseth’s order, which has not been previously reported, adds another dimension to the campaign against suspected drug traffickers.AI IconNew!Get more context or dive into the details with Ask The Post AI. Some current and former U.S. officials and law-of-war experts have said that the Pentagon’s lethal campaign — which has killed more than 80 people to date — is unlawful and may expose those most directly involved to future prosecution.Follow Trump’s second termFollowThe alleged traffickers pose no imminent threat of attack against the United States and are not, as the Trump administration has tried to argue, in an “armed conflict” with the U.S., these officials and experts say. Because there is no legitimate war between the two sides, killing any of the men in the boats “amounts to murder,” said Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised Special Operations forces for seven years at the height of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign.Even if the U.S. were at war with the traffickers, an order to kill all the boat’s occupants if they were no longer able to fight “would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime,” said Huntley, now director of the national security law program at Georgetown Law. wp-ad#slug_enterprise_2:empty::after { content: "Advertisement"; width: 100%; height: 250px; max-height: auto; } @media (max-width: 970px) { wp-ad#slug_enterprise_2:empty::after { width: 100%; } } wp-ad-wrapper:has(#slug_enterprise_2:not(:empty))::before { content: 'Advertisement'; } wp-ad#slug_mob_enterprise_2:empty::after { content: "Advertisement"; width: 100%; height: 375px; max-height: auto; } @media (max-width: 970px) { wp-ad#slug_mob_enterprise_2:empty::after { width: 100%; } } wp-ad-wrapper:has(#slug_mob_enterprise_2:not(:empty))::before { content: 'Advertisement'; } This report is based on interviews with and accounts from seven people with knowledge of the Sept. 2 strike and the overall operation.Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined to address questions about Hegseth’s order and other details of the operation, including Special Operations involvement. “This entire narrative is completely false,” he said in a statement. “Ongoing operations to dismantle narcoterrorism and to protect the Homeland from deadly drugs have been a resounding success.”The elite counterterror group SEAL Team 6 led the attack, accordi