type: timeline_event
The Washington Post published an explosive investigation on November 28 revealing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to "kill everybody" during a September 2, 2025 military strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean. According to officials with direct knowledge, SEAL Team Six conducted the initial strike that destroyed the vessel and killed nine people, leaving two survivors clinging to debris. The mission's commander, Admiral Frank Bradley, then ordered a second strike that killed the two survivors in compliance with Hegseth's directive.
The revelation sparked immediate bipartisan congressional investigations, with both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees launching inquiries. Committee chairs Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Jack Reed (D-RI) pledged "vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances." Legal experts characterized the order as potential war crimes under international law. Rebecca Ingber, professor of law at Cardozo Law School, stated unequivocally: "It is absolutely unlawful to order that there will be no survivors. There is no actual armed conflict here, so this is murder." She added that "declaring that there be no survivors or otherwise killing people hors de combat is a war crime. This is one of the most basic and longstanding rules of LOAC [laws of armed conflict]."
The White House response created further contradictions. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that "Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes" and that "Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law." However, President Trump contradicted this account, stating: "I wouldn't have wanted that - not a second strike," and claimed Hegseth told him "he did not order the death of those two men." Hegseth himself called the Washington Post report "fake news" without directly refuting the "kill everybody" order, while claiming the strikes were "in compliance with the law of armed conflict."
This September 2 incident represents part of a broader military campaign in which the Pentagon has conducted over 20 strikes on Caribbean vessels allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela since early September, resulting in more than 80 deaths. Multiple legal scholars, including Jennifer Trahan of NYU and Deborah Pearlstein of Princeton, have argued these operations constitute extrajudicial killings with dubious legal justification, as the United States is not engaged in armed conflict in the region. The United Kingdom has ceased sharing intelligence about suspected drug traffickers with the U.S. because it considers the military operations illegal under international law. The controversy represents one of the most serious allegations of unlawful military conduct by a sitting Defense Secretary, with potential criminal liability under both international law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.