US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the US military would soon initiate missile strikes against drug smugglers on land in Venezuela.
This decision is part of his response to allegations of war crimes connected to the killing of suspected gang members at sea. During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump declared that his policy aimed at "taking those son-of-a-bitches out," according to a report from The Times.
He was seated next to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who faced accusations of blaming a top admiral for the decision to eliminate survivors of a strike on a drug boat.
During the cabinet meeting, Trump claimed that drug smugglers were responsible for 200,000 American deaths in the previous year. However, the CDC reported that official drug overdoses amounted to 82,000, the Times reported.
“I want those boats taken out, and if necessary, we’ll attack on land as well as at sea. We’re taking those individuals out,” Trump stated.
The Times reported that Trump's remarks extended beyond the immediate controversy surrounding a military operation off the coast of Venezuela; he mentioned that he could order attacks on any country that produces drugs that reach America.
Commenting on a remark he made on Sunday, in which he claimed he did not want follow-up strikes on survivors clinging to wreckage, Trump said: "All I know is this: every boat that you see get blown up saves an average of 25,000 lives."
Hegseth blames 'fog of war' for confusion
The Times reported that the White House has since acknowledged that there were follow-up attacks that killed those in the water, stating that these were ordered not directly by Hegseth but by Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, commander of US Special Operations Command.
Hegseth confirmed that he observed the initial boat strike but did not remain to witness the subsequent actions, which continued for over an hour. He stated that he did not personally see any survivors because "the thing was on fire."
“This is called the fog of war. This is what you and the press don’t understand. You sit in your air-conditioned offices or on Capitol Hill and nitpick while planting fake stories,” Hegseth said.
At a cabinet meeting, Trump stated that he himself wasn’t involved in the attack, and turned his comments back to his threat of a land attack.
“We're going to start conducting strikes on land as well. The land targets are much easier, and we know the routes they take. We have extensive knowledge about them,” he added.
“We know where they live and the locations of the individuals we consider threats. And we'll be implementing this strategy very soon.”
Hegseth emphasized that the Trump administration would reject the “kid gloves” approach taken by former president Joe Biden.
“We always support our commanders who are making tough decisions in challenging situations. In this case, as with all these strikes, they are making the right judgment calls to defend the American people.”
The Trump administration's conduct in Venezuela is facing scrutiny from a Republican-controlled Congress, which has largely avoided challenging him for most of the year.