Overview
- Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the campaign is lawful national defense and asserted President Trump’s authority to act against cartel-linked boats.
- Reporting places the toll at at least 87 dead and roughly two dozen vessels destroyed across recent operations in the Caribbean and nearby waters.
- Hegseth publicly backed Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley as the officer who ordered the contested September follow-up strike and denied issuing any directive to kill everyone aboard.
- Lawmakers reviewed video of the operation in recent briefings as Senate Armed Services leaders pledged oversight, and Hegseth said releasing fuller footage is under review after Trump said it would be made public.
- Citing remarks reported by RT and relayed by El Imparcial, Trump said the government will begin the “same process” on land against alleged cartel networks.