Extract from ABC News
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing tough questions about who ordered a second strike on an alleged drug boat. (AP: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The first US military strike on an alleged drug boat started a fire — burning from bow to stern on the water off the coast of Venezuela.
The four-engine speedboat had been under US surveillance for some time, according to officials.
A video released showed the boat cutting through the water before the initial attack and the fire.
What that 29-second-long declassified clip, posted by President Donald Trump, does not show is the alleged aftermath.
As the smoke cleared, two men were still clinging to the vessel, having survived the initial attack.
A second strike left no survivors.
What happened in the lead-up to that second strike — who knew what and when, and who gave what order — is now the subject of bipartisan scrutiny.
The White House has since insisted the multiple strikes were given via legal order.
However, Democrats and foreign officials have questioned whether the attack on survivors could be considered a war crime.
September 2: '11 terrorists killed in action'
On his Truth Social account, Mr Trump announced the strike on September 2, local time.
"Earlier this morning, on my orders, US Military forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified narco-terrorists," he wrote.
"Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America."
Mr Trump had already told reporters in the Oval Office earlier that day, informing them of the strike on a "drug-carrying boat" from Venezuela just moments before.
He noted in his social media post that there were "11 terrorists killed in action", who he claimed were operating under the control of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
He included a snippet of video, showing the boat being struck and catching on fire.
September 3: 'What will stop them is when you blow them up'
The following morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined Fox News' morning show, Fox & Friends, to discuss the strike.
The program is the same one Mr Hegseth co-hosted as a weekend anchor before he became Mr Trump's pick to become one of the highest-ranking political figures in the country.
"We knew exactly who was in that boat, we knew exactly what they were doing, and we knew exactly who they represented,"he said.
In the same interview, he told his former colleagues he "watched it live".
"I can't disclose precisely how this went down, but I can tell you it was precision; it was very well understood exactly what assets would be used in order to achieve the effect," he said.
That afternoon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a joint press conference in Mexico City with Mexican Foreign Secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente.
Marco Rubio is the United States Secretary of State. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque / Pool)
He was asked about whether the attack on the vessel could be a "return to gunboat diplomacy".
He told reporters that intercepting drug boats "doesn't work".
"The United States has long … established intelligence that allows us to interdict and stop drug boats, and we did that," he said.
"Interdiction doesn't work because drug cartels … knows they're going to lose two per cent of their cargo. They bake it into their economics.
"What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them."
He warned it "could happen again".
"The president used the force and the power of the United States to protect the United States, and they blew up a boat,"he said.
September 10: 'No legitimate legal justification'
More than 20 Democrats petitioned President Donald Trump, asking for clarification about what happened during the strike.
Their letter accused the Trump administration of asserting "without evidence" that the vessel and those on board "posed a threat to the United States".
"Your [report] following the strike noted 'the potential for future such actions,'" the letter read.
"But provided no legitimate legal justification and was scant in details regarding the legal or substantive basis for this or any future strikes.
"What is your legal authority to conduct lethal military operations against civilians at sea, within Venezuela or within other Latin American countries?"
It further asked what intelligence had identified the people on board the boat, asking whether they posed "an imminent threat".
"How were the individuals targeted in the strike positively identified as lawful targets for lethal military force?"
September 11: 'Openly confessed to murdering 11 people'
Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused the US of murder, appearing on state television to question the attack.
"And how did they identify them as members of Tren de Aragua?" he asked.
"Did they have, I don't know, a chip? Did they have a QR code and [the military] read it from above in the dark?
"They openly confessed to murdering 11 people."
Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan organised crime group, which Mr Trump has labelled a foreign terrorist organisation.
In the following weeks and months, the US would announce further strikes on 21 separate boats in the Caribbean, killing at least 82 people.
More videos have been released of strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Pacific.
The Trump administration told Congress it was in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro described the strikes as "serial executions".
November 28: 'Lethal, kinetic strikes'
The Washington Post published new details about the September 2 strike, citing two people "with direct knowledge of the operation".
Mr Hegseth, the sources alleged, gave a spoken directive to "kill everybody".
As the smoke cleared, commanders watching live allegedly saw the two survivors clinging to the wreck of the speedboat.
Seemingly in response to the article, Mr Hegseth made a lengthy post on his official X account.
"As we've said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be 'lethal, kinetic strikes,'" he wrote.
"The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people."
In a separate post on his personal account a few hours later, he wrote: "We have only just begun to kill narco-terrorists".
December 1: 'Ensure the boat was destroyed'
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Admiral Bradley conducted the second strike on the boat.
She denied that Mr Hegseth gave the order.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. (Reuters: Kevin Lamarque)
"Secretary Hegseth authorised Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes," she said.
"Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated."
December 2: 'I didn't stick around'
President Trump told the media he was unaware of the second strike, adding he "wouldn't have wanted that".
"I don't know anything about it," he said, and added Mr Hegseth had denied giving the "kill everybody" order.
"He said he did not say that, and I believe him, 100 per cent.
"But no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike.
"The first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around. But Pete said that didn't happen. I have great confidence in him.
"I'm going to find out about it. But Pete said he did not order the death of those two men."
That same day, Mr Hegseth told a cabinet meeting he did not see the survivors or the second strike.
Mr Hegseth says he 'didn't stick around' for the second strike on the boat.
He said he "didn't stick around" before leaving for his next meeting.
"I watched that first strike live," he said.
"I didn't stick around for the hour, two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs. I moved on to my next meeting."
He added that Admiral Bradley had "complete authority" to order the second strike, labelling it the "correct decision".
"I did not personally see survivors, but I stand — because the thing was on fire, it was exploded and fire, smoke, you can't see anything, you got digital.
"This is called the fog of war."
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