We’ve suddenly been hearing a rising narrative regarding a “second strike” on one of the boats the Trump administration hit in a narcoterrorist strike.
The Washington Post claimed, according to “sources,” that a second strike was ordered to kill two survivors clinging to the boat’s wreckage in the water pursuant to instructions from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth:
The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said.
Hegseth called it “fabricated.”
As we reported earlier, the White House Press Secretary explained that Hegseth never gave any order to hit the boat a second time.
🚨@PressSec confirms that the Sec. War did NOT give the order to strike the narco boat a second time, Admiral Bradley did—and he had every right to.
“POTUS and Sec. Hegseth has made it clear that presidentially designated narco terrorist groups are subject to LETHAL targeting in… pic.twitter.com/YcImqBvAjI
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 1, 2025
READ MORE: Washington Post Accuses Pete Hegseth of ‘Illegal Order’ to Kill Drug Runners, but Is It Real?
Karoline Leavitt’s Statement on the Drug Boat Attack Should Close the Issue, but It Won’t
Now, a New York Times story is helping to implode this narrative even more with some important information that supports what the administration is saying: that while Hegseth ordered the initial strike, he had not ordered a second strike.
Wait… https://t.co/FVy4oNbWEX pic.twitter.com/KeRmvFg0jx
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 2, 2025
According to five U.S. officials, who spoke separately and on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter that is under investigation, Mr. Hegseth, ahead of the Sept. 2 attack, ordered a strike that would kill the people on the boat and destroy the vessel and its purported cargo of drugs.
But, each official said, Mr. Hegseth’s directive did not specifically address what should happen if a first missile turned out not to fully accomplish all of those things. And, the officials said, his order was not a response to surveillance footage showing that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast.
Admiral Bradley ordered the initial missile strike and then several follow-up strikes that killed the initial survivors and sank the disabled boat. As that operation unfolded, they said, Mr. Hegseth did not give any further orders to him.
Now that’s vastly different from the picture that Democrats were trying to push of Hegseth ordering the killing of shipwrecked people stranded in the water.
The NY Times also cites officials pointing out another problem with the narrative.
The two officials questioned whether the surviving people were Admiral Bradley’s intended target in the second strike, as opposed to the purported drugs and the disabled vessel. They argued that the purported cargo remained a threat and a lawful military target because another cartel-associated boat might have come to retrieve it.
Translation? Disabled doesn’t equal done and no longer a threat. We’ve been treated to yet another “48-hour rule” story. It’s rolled out with great fanfare and outrage. Then, as more facts come out, you see it isn’t what the Democrats were claiming it to be. But this rather conveniently helped to feed the Democrat “illegal orders” narrative.
Hegseth said Bradley had his 100 percent support.
Let’s make one thing crystal clear:
Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.
America is fortunate to have such men protecting…
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) December 1, 2025
The Democrats will have to find something else to peddle.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America’s military.
Help us report on Trump and Hegseth’s successes as they make our military great again. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
