President Trump said Wednesday he supports the release of any video footage of a strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean following a report alleging that the U.S. military issued an order to kill two survivors.
The big picture: Trump defended U.S. military strikes on suspected drug boats as reporters asked him at the White House about the alleged incident near Venezuela in September that has prompted congressional investigations into the legality of the action.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called for the Trump administration to "release the full, unedited video" of the strikes.
Context: Details of precisely what happened during the U.S. military strikes on Sept. 2 remain unclear.
- The White House said while defending the legality of the action that a Navy admiral had directed the follow-up strike and not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as the Washington Post first reported.
Driving the news: A reporter in the Oval Office noted that Trump had released video of the first boat strike that the Pentagon said killed 11 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua "narco-terrorist organization" and asked him if he'd release footage of the second one.
- "I don't know what they have, but whatever they have we'll certainly release, no problem," Trump replied.
- "Every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives."
Zoom in: Trump was asked Trump if Hegseth, Adm. Frank Bradley or others should be punished "if it is found that survivors were actually killed while clinging on to that boat."
- "I think you're going to find that this is war — that these people were killing our people by the millions, actually, if you look over a few years," Trump said.
- "I think you're going to find that there's a very receptive ear to doing exactly what they're doing, taking out those boats and very soon we're gonna start doing it on land too," he added. "Whoever are piloting those boats, they're guilty of trying to kill people in our country."
Of note: A reporter asked Trump if he supported a decision to kill survivors.
- "No, I support the decision to knock out the boats," Trump said.
More from Axios:
- Hegseth says U.S. has "only just begun" sinking alleged drug vessels
- Here are all of Hegseth's boat strikes near Venezuela that we know about
- White House defends Hegseth and second strike on boat near Venezuela
Editor's note: This article has been updated with further comment from President Trump and more context.
