US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would support the release of any footage of the multiple strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat from September 2, while backing the “decision to knock out the boats.” The Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in particular have been under scrutiny in recent days after The Washington Post reported that the US military carried out a subsequent strike on a boat in the Caribbean despite there apparently being survivors. CBS News has not independently confirmed the existence of survivors, but the White House has confirmed the boat was struck more than once on September 2. “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’ll certainly release, no problem,” the president said of any strike footage. A reporter asked the president in the Oval Office if Hegseth, Adm. Frank Bradley or others should be punished if survivors were indeed clinging to the boat. The administration has suggested that Bradley, the commander of the operation, gave the order for the second strike and was within his rights to do so. The president responded, “I think you’re going to find that this is war,” saying drugs smuggled into the United States have killed millions. “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,” Trump added. When pressed again on whether he supported a decision to kill survivors, the president said, “No, I support the decision to knock out the boats.” On Sunday, the president told reporters on Air Force One that he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike on the boat. Since then, the administration has defended Hegseth and his leadership. The president on Wednesday also repeated an earlier threat that land strikes in Venezuela could begin soon as tensions with President Nicolás Maduro run high. “Very soon, we’re going to start doing it on land, too,” he said. “You know, the land is much easier … And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live. And we’re going to start that very soon, too.” Trump has hinted for months that he may broaden his administration’s sea-based strikes to include accused drug targets on land, telling reporters in October that he is “totally prepared” to carry out land strikes. If the president orders strikes on targets within Latin American countries, it would significantly expand the Trump administration’s anti-drug trafficking operations, which have hit upward of 20 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people. The boat strikes are already controversial. Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have argued Trump is acting without legal authority and hasn’t provided enough evidence that the boats are carrying drugs. The administration has said the US is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, which it has designated as terrorist groups.
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