Trump’s War Doctrine Hits a New Gear as Reports Allege Survivors Were “Finished Off” in Second Strike

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth—Trump’s battlefield-branded Pentagon chief—ignited another political firestorm Friday with a blistering defense of the administration’s increasingly aggressive lethal-force campaign against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean. The policy, which critics say edges into extrajudicial territory, is now being openly embraced by the administration as intentional, strategic, and uncompromising.

And Hegseth isn’t running from the criticism.
He’s sprinting straight at it.

“Biden coddled terrorists. We kill them.”
— Pete Hegseth, X, Nov. 29, 2025

The remarks came after The Washington Post and CNN reported that U.S. forces carried out a second strike on a damaged Venezuelan narco-boat on Sept. 2—specifically targeting the two survivors who had escaped the initial explosion. According to Post reporting, the military commander overseeing the mission told subordinates the survivors remained “legitimate targets” because they could still communicate with cartel networks, and that the instructions came directly from Hegseth: “Everyone must be killed.”

Hegseth calls that report “fake news.”
But he’s not denying the deaths.
In fact—he’s defending the entire program with unapologetic clarity.

The Policy: “Lethal, Kinetic Strikes” Only

Hegseth’s X posts, written with the tone of a wartime declaration, leave little to the imagination:

“These highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be lethal, kinetic strikes.”

“The mission is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill narco-terrorists poisoning the American people.”

This is a kill mission.
Not a capture mission.
Not an interdiction mission.

Trump’s Pentagon is openly framing Venezuelan drug traffickers as Designated Terrorist Organization affiliates, making them wartime targets under an expanded legal interpretation that has already triggered lawsuits from international human rights groups.

The U.S. has carried out three confirmed strikes since August—including one in which a cartel boat exploded so violently that debris rained down onto a cruise ship several miles away.

“Fake News” vs. Facts: The Wounded Survivors Question

The controversy erupted when The Washington Post reported that:

U.S. forces struck a vessel suspected of drug trafficking off the Venezuelan coast

Two traffickers survived the initial blast

A second strike was allegedly ordered to kill the survivors

Hegseth insists this storyline is false—but his rebuttal actually confirms the underlying premise: the goal is total, lethal elimination of targets, not interdiction or arrest.

“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”

The administration says this eliminates the risk of survivors alerting armed cartel flotillas, which have previously attempted violent rescues of downed boats.

Hegseth’s Escalation: “We Have Only Just Begun to Kill Narco-Terrorists”

On his personal X account, Hegseth delivered the clearest signal yet that these operations are only the beginning:

“We have only just begun to kill narco-terrorists.”

This rhetoric mirrors Trump’s post-9/11-era tone, positioning the drug war as a battlefield conflict rather than a policing matter. Under this doctrine:

Suspected traffickers = terrorists

Drug boats = hostile war vessels

Engagement rules = shoot to kill

Survivors = still “combatants”

It’s the most aggressive U.S. anti-narcotics posture since the 1980s—and far more lethal.

Trump Takes It Further: Land Operations Coming “Very Soon”

At a Thanksgiving Day briefing, Trump praised the maritime kill campaign—claiming “85% of sea-based trafficking is now stopped”—and teased an expansion into South American land corridors:

“We’ll very soon begin stopping suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers by land. The land is easier.”

Translation:
The Caribbean strikes were only Phase One.

Expect drones, special forces, and stepped-up cross-border intelligence ops next.

Legal Minefield: “Lawful Under U.S. and International Law,” Hegseth Claims

Hegseth insists everything is:

Reviewed by Pentagon lawyers

Approved up the chain of command

Consistent with the Law of Armed Conflict

But human rights attorneys argue:

No formal war has been declared

Drug trafficking is not legally equivalent to terrorism

Killing unarmed survivors violates the Geneva Conventions

Strikes in international waters push legal boundaries

Already, the U.N. Human Rights Council is calling for a formal inquiry.

Biden Team Responds (Silently)

Fox News Digital asked the Biden political team for comment.
None has yet been given.

But privately, former Biden administration officials warn the Trump doctrine risks:

sparking retaliation from Venezuela

creating refugee waves

opening the U.S. to ICC complaints

collapsing cooperation with Caribbean nations

The Trump administration, of course, doesn’t care.

The Bottom Line: A New Era of Open, Lethal U.S. Force

Pete Hegseth is not hiding the ball:
This is a war, and the U.S. is killing its way through it.

His message to critics:
If you don’t like it, you’re siding with terrorists.

His message to traffickers:
There will be no survivors.

And his message to Trump supporters:
The Biden days of “catch, release, and coddle” are over.

Whether the policy is effective, legal, or moral will be debated endlessly.

But the Trump-Hegseth doctrine is now unmistakably clear:
America is hitting back, harder than ever.