Pete Hegseth says he personally signed off on the first Trump administration strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel off Venezuela and watched the action live in the Pentagon, defending both the operation and the broader strategy behind a hard line in the Caribbean. He frames the campaign as part of a resolute defense posture that revives Reagan-style peace through strength, rejects sloppy media narratives, and emphasizes rebuilding our military and deterrence across the region.
Hegseth recounted the September operation as a deliberate, intelligence-driven action that did not come overnight. He says it took “a couple of weeks, almost a month” to assemble the intelligence and reposition assets that had been deployed far from the region, and that the decision was never taken lightly.
The secretary kept final strike authority at his level only for that initial mission because of its strategic implications and because commanders needed a single point of accountability. “My job was to say execute or don’t execute,” he said, and he approved the strike after what he described as “extensive, exhaustive” briefings that involved military, civilian, legal, and intelligence reviews.
When asked about sensational reporting that he ordered forces to kill everyone aboard, Hegseth pushed back hard and used the press as an example. “(Is) anybody here from The Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they suck,” he said. “Of course not … you don’t walk in and say, ‘Kill them.’ It’s just patently ridiculous.”
Hegseth also explained his role during the tactical phase, saying he monitored the mission feed “for probably five minutes or so” before leaving commanders to execute. He emphasized that battlefield decisions are dynamic and that commanders on scene recommended a follow-up strike when threats and contraband remained.
He supported the second strike and framed it as standard combat practice rather than an outlier. “I fully support that strike,” he said. “I would have made the same call myself,” noting that re-attacks are common in combat zones when hostile actors remain capable of fighting or when contraband could be linked to other vessels.
The operation, Hegseth said, targeted a group that the president had officially designated as a terrorist organization, which in his view made the legal and strategic basis clear. He stressed that approvals flowed through proper channels, that lawyers and intel analysts were involved, and that authority for follow-on strikes now rests with Adm. Bradley.
On survivor protocols, Hegseth pointed to another incident with a semi-submersible where some crew jumped into the water and were recovered after a second strike sank the vessel. “We gave them back to their host countries,” he said, and added that differing circumstances sometimes dictate different tactical responses.
Hegseth also argued the strikes are already having a deterrent effect across the region and defended the administration’s posture as making Americans safer. “We’re putting them at the bottom of the Caribbean. … It will make the American people safer,” he said, tying the operations to a larger campaign against cartel-linked narco-terrorist networks.
On transparency and classified material, Hegseth said officials are weighing the risks of releasing unredacted footage because of “sources, methods” and ongoing missions. He refused to be rushed on operational security while acknowledging public interest in accountability.
Budget and capability worries featured prominently in his remarks, with Hegseth saying defense spending must rise and that the defense industrial base needs revival. “We need a revived defense industrial base,” he said. “We need those capabilities. We need them yesterday.”
He wrapped with a few cultural notes about the military and technology, rejecting regret over his communications choices and boasting of improved morale. “I don’t live with any regrets,” he said, adding that “The revival of the spirit inside our military … the desire to join and reenlist is at historic levels,” and that modern battlefields demand both human troops and AI-enabled tools: “It has to be both.” He closed on a lighter point about college football rivalry, saying, “Well, I’m with Navy,” while praising the Marine Corps for standing strong through political turmoil.
