The U.S. military’s early September strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat — the first salvo in a months-long string of attacks — has drawn new scrutiny in recent days, as the White House confirmed that the vessel was struck twice.
The confirmation followed a Washington Post report that the first boat was struck a second time, killing a pair of survivors — prompting calls for investigations and concerns in Congress that the follow-up strike may have constituted a war crime. A Pentagon manual on the law of war says combatants that are “wounded, sick, or shipwrecked” no longer pose a threat and should not be attacked.
The Trump administration has defended the series of boat strikes, casting them as a necessary tactic to stem the flow of narcotics from South America. But U.S. officials have not provided specific evidence that the vessels were smuggling drugs or posed a threat to the U.S. Some lawmakers from both parties have questioned the legality of the strikes.
Here’s what we know about the Sept. 2 strike and what the administration has said:
Sept. 2: Trump says military “shot out a boat”
President Trump announces to reporters during a Sept. 2 event that the U.S. had “literally shot out a boat” from Venezuela that he alleged was carrying drugs earlier in the day.
In social media posts later that day, Mr. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the attack in further detail, and referred to it as a single strike.
The president said on Truth Social that the strike had killed 11 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that his administration designated as a terrorist group earlier this year. Mr. Trump posted a 29-second video that showed one strike on a boat.
Mr. Trump said the boat was headed to the U.S., but Rubio said later in the day that the drugs were “probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean.”
The following day, Rubio stated that it was “headed towards, eventually, the United States.”
Sept. 3: Hegseth says he “watched it live”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes back on a Venezuelan official’s claim that the video of the Sept. 2 strike may have been fake, telling “Fox and Friends” the following morning: “I watched it live. We knew exactly who was in that boat. We knew exactly what they were doing.”
Sept. 4: U.S. had “absolute and complete authority” to hit boat, Hegseth says
Asked by CBS News what legal authority the Pentagon cited to strike the boat, Hegseth says: “We have the absolute and complete authority to conduct that.” He called the importation of drugs to the U.S. an “assault on the American people.”
Separately, the White House told Congress on Sept. 4 that it believes the strike was “consistent with [the president’s] responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests,” according to a notification later obtained by CBS News.
Sept. 11: Boat was allegedly turning around
The New York Times and CBS News report the boat appeared to be turning around when it was hit. A source familiar with the matter told CBS News that the individuals onboard the boat saw a military aircraft overhead and attempted to turn back before the U.S. hit the boat.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement, “The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring poison to our shores.”
Sept. 15: Another boat is hit
Mr. Trump announces another strike against an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean, killing three “male terrorists.”
The administration later said the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels in a message to Congress justifying the Sept. 15 strike that was viewed by CBS News. It called the three individuals killed in the second strike “unlawful combatants.”
In total, the U.S. has struck more than 20 boats between early September and mid-November, killing more than 80 people.
Oct. 16: Key admiral announces retirement
Hegseth announces that Adm. Alvin Holsey will retire as commander of U.S. Southern Command at year’s end. Holsey was one year into his tenure overseeing the region where the boat strikes took place. Typically, combatant commanders serve for three years on average.
Separately, CBS News reported that two people survived a strike on a boat in the Caribbean on Oct. 16. Mr. Trump later said the survivors would be returned to their countries of origin. The two, from Ecuador and Colombia, were repatriated within a few days of the strike.
Nov. 28: Report says the first strike left survivors who were then killed in second attack
The Washington Post reports that the Sept. 2 strike left two survivors, who clung to the boat’s wreckage before dying in a follow-on attack. The Post reported that the second strike was conducted because Hegseth ordered everybody to be killed.
Hegseth called the reporting “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory.”
“The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people,” Hegseth wrote on X. “Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”
He also defended the strikes’ legality once again.
In response, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said in a joint statement on Nov. 28 that they would conduct “vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.” Similarly, the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee released a statement promising to gather a full accounting of the operation.
Nov. 30: Senator says it may rise “to the level of a war crime”
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia says on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the reported follow-on strike “rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” pointing to international and domestic laws on attacks against wounded combatants.
Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, expresses similar concerns, saying, “Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that … would be an illegal act.”
Nov. 30: Trump responds
On Air Force One, the president tells reporters he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike on the boat.
He added that Hegseth said he didn’t order a follow-on strike, and “I believe him 100%.”
Dec. 1: Leavitt confirms a second strike
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms that there was a follow-on strike, but denied that it was done at Hegseth’s behest. She says Adm. Mitch Bradley, who led Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the operation, was authorized by Hegseth to conduct strikes.
A reporter asked Leavitt: “Does the administration deny that that second strike happened, or did it happen and the administration denies that Secretary Hegseth gave the order?”
She responded: “The latter is true.”
Leavitt then read a prepared statement: “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narcoterrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war. With respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. 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.”
Leavitt later told CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang that she “would reject” that Hegseth ever said that everyone in the boat on Sept. 2 should be killed.
Dec. 1: Senate Armed Services chair says he expects to obtain all the audio and video from the strikes
GOP Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters that he has spoken with Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he plans to talk with the admiral who led the operation. He said Hegseth “did indicate” that “there was a second attack.”
But Wicker told reporters he did not have information on survivors who may have been killed. He said he expects to receive that information because “we’re going to have all of the audio and all of the video.”
