Trump walks back support for releasing video of second boat strike

Washington — President Trump on Monday walked back his support for releasing video of a second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in early September, insisting that he never said he supported releasing the video, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to commit to releasing the Pentagon footage.

Last week, the president told reporters he didn’t know what video existed of the ensuing strike, “but whatever they had, we would certainly publish it, no problem.” Saturday, Hegseth denied say if the Pentagon would release a video of the operation of September 2which would have been included a follow-up strike that killed two people who survived the initial attack on a suspected drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean. Hegseth said they “need to be very responsible in reviewing” anything they might release.

On Monday, Mr. Trump said he had never expressed support for releasing the video, despite his on-camera comments five days earlier. Instead, the president said the decision was Hegseth’s.

At an event in the Cabinet Room, a reporter began her question with: “Mr. President, you said you would have ‘no problem’ releasing the full video of that September 2 strike off the coast of Venezuela. Secretary Hegseth now says: “

“I didn’t say that,” the president replied. “That…you said that, I didn’t say that.”

“Whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do, I’m fine with it,” the president added.

Strikes against drug-carrying ships have become a growing congressional concern. But the question of survivors of the September 2 boat attack explored these concerns further. The White House confirmed Last week, the army carried out a second strike, but claimed the move was legal.

Mr. Trump posted a 29-second video of the initial strike on Truth Social on September 2, but has not released a full video including the follow-up strike. Several members of Congress were shown full video during a closed-door briefing last week, but they offered mixed reactionsDemocrats calling the survivors’ strike unjustified while Republicans defended it.

Since September 2, the United States has carried out more than 20 other strikes, killing more than 80 people, as part of the US administration’s war on drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

Congress is try to hold on part of Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon gave Congress never-before-seen footage of the strikes through a provision in a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act. This is the annual defense policy bill.