The White House is pushing back against mounting bipartisan scrutiny over a September 2 military strike in the Caribbean Sea, as lawmakers question whether a follow-up missile attack that killed survivors may have crossed legal and ethical lines.
On Monday, the administration reaffirmed its stance that the operation — the first lethal action carried out under President Donald Trump’s controversial policy of treating suspected maritime drug smugglers as wartime targets — was lawful. However, growing calls in Congress for a full investigation have intensified debate over the limits of military authority and the rules governing the use of force at sea.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had authorized Special Operations Commander Adm. Frank M. Bradley to “conduct these kinetic strikes” against the vessel, which officials say was suspected of transporting illicit drugs toward the United States.
According to five U.S. officials familiar with the classified operation, Hegseth issued orders before the mission to eliminate the individuals aboard the vessel and destroy both the boat and its alleged drug cargo. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing inquiry, emphasized that the directive did not specify how operators should proceed if the initial missile strike failed to achieve all objectives.
Crucially, they said, the order did not reference any requirement to target survivors should the first strike leave individuals alive — a detail now central to the question of whether the subsequent follow-up attack constitutes a potential war crime.
Administration officials continue to argue that the mission fell within the legal scope of national defense operations at sea. Leavitt said Bradley “worked well within his authority and the law,” adding that the actions taken ensured the vessel was neutralized and posed “no further threat to the United States.”
Still, lawmakers from both parties are pressing for a transparent accounting of the strike sequence, especially after reports indicated that surveillance footage captured at least two people surviving the initial explosion before the second missile was launched.
As federal investigators review the chain of command, intelligence assessments, and the exact timeline of events, the incident is quickly becoming a test of the administration’s broader policy of aggressive interdiction at sea — a policy already raising alarms among legal experts and human rights organizations.
A formal inquiry is underway, and Pentagon officials have not ruled out releasing additional details as the investigation progresses.
