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'Textbook War Crime': Critics Slam Pete Hegseth For 'Outright Murder' After Shock Report

'Textbook War Crime': Critics Slam Pete Hegseth For 'Outright Murder' After Shock Report

Critics are calling out US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over a stunning new report in the Washington Post that he ordered a US strike force to kill everyone on board a suspected drug-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean in September. When two survivors were seen in the wreckage, commanders launched a second “double tap” strike to kill them, the newspaper reported on Friday. “The order was to kill everybody,” one source with direct knowledge of the operation told the Post, which said the two survivors were “blown out of the water.” New York University law professor Ryan Goodman wrote on X that the Post report details a “ textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing .” He wrote in a follow-up post that the administration’s claim to lawmakers that the second strike was to clear debris “seems to be a bold-face falsehood.” President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying they have targeted drug traffickers, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they know exactly who is on each boat and what they are carrying. “We track them from the very beginning. We know who’s on them, who they are, where they’re coming from, what they have on them,” Rubio said last month . Hegseth on Friday called the Post report “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory” and said the “declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists.” He did not challenge the specifics of the Post report but insisted that the operation is “lawful under both US and international law.” Critics disagreed, firing back on X: If true, this is heinous and illegal. You do not kill helpless survivors of a sinking boat. (It enraged us when, for example, the Japanese would machine-gun American survivors in the water.) You do not kill someone who is hors de combat, and no quarter orders are flatly illegal. https://t.co/lhaL89s650 — David French (@DavidAFrench) November 28, 2025 This would be a war crime even if there were an actual war and these people were actual combatants, which there isn't and they weren't. It's unquestionably an unlawful homicide under any form of law you wish to apply: military or civilian, domestic or international, federal or… https://t.co/sgJ2VjDijk — George Conway ⚖️ (@gtconway3d) November 28, 2025 If the factual account is correct, how can the second strike be defended? (You are welcome to assume, if you wish, that the first strike was lawful. FWIW, I'm doubtful that assumption is sound.) There is plenty of reason to be concerned about the possibility of illegal orders. https://t.co/qRM6uAMmGk — Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) November 28, 2025 Secretary of War Crimes. https://t.co/OKnp0owB6z — Justin Amash (@justinamash) November 28, 2025 This appears to be outright murder; an order to kill injured people who were not posing a single threat to anyone. Quite possibly a war crime. https://t.co/MigR1ZVhfd pic.twitter.com/iFy262k9P3 — Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) November 28, 2025 Executing unarmed enemy survivors who pose no threat to U.S. troops is plainly illegal under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So when people ask "What's an example of an illegal order from the Trump administration?," this is an example. pic.twitter.com/v96qSkxLVC — James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) November 28, 2025 A war crime, lies, a cover up. The Trump administration. https://t.co/5CKTT40T7T — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 28, 2025 This is a clear violation of the DoD’s own Law of War Manual and the Geneva Convention. Congress must act. https://t.co/TVqEgrUq2i — Elaine Luria (@ElaineLuria) November 28, 2025 . @SecWar — you will be held accountable for illegal orders you give. This demands Congressional investigation, and the unredacted video of the strike and radio recordings of the orders given need to be shared with Congress and the American people immediately. https://t.co/l0Q2M7XMSg — Congressman Eugene Vindman (@RepVindman) November 29, 2025 Article 3 and 12 of the Geneva Convention violations, it is so beyond clear. Southcom’s top lawyer said it was illegal and you overruled him. If you’re so confident, declassify the OLC opinion, and tell us which cartels we’re in an “armed conflict” with. Why hide this info? — John Jackson (@hissgoescobra) November 28, 2025 . @SecWar gave an illegal order, and all who followed it must be answerable. Every member of the gov’t, including the military, has an independent obligation to the Constitution, laws, and his sworn oath. Since at least 1804, an officer follows illegal orders at his own peril: https://t.co/iKQHaa41oF pic.twitter.com/i3kcPz1QeK — Patrick Jaicomo (@pjaicomo) November 28, 2025 So this is either: felony murder if we are not a war or a war crime if we were at war. As citizens, we are complicit if we don’t call this out. Don’t be the villagers near Aushwitz who “had no idea.” https://t.co/LR6bFzxGyX — Douglas Weinstein (@DouglasWei43233) November 28, 2025 “Legally perilous” is a nice way to put it. This is a crime. https://t.co/dxz8GhXq5N — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 28, 2025

Trump Crowns Himself 'THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT' In Rant About Midterms

Trump Crowns Himself 'THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT' In Rant About Midterms

President Donald Trump dubbed himself “the affordability president” in a Saturday morning social media rant that featured some fuzzy maths in an attempt to dismiss widespread economic concerns and fuel his claims that his efforts would help Republicans win the 2026 midterms . “Because I have invoked FAVORED NATIONS STATUS FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform . Trump has frequently wielded numbers in this manner throughout his second term, claiming in July that he will cut prescription drug costs by 1,500% — despite numerous fact-checking outlets noting that percentages don’t work that way .  Price cuts exceeding 100% would, in theory, mean customers themselves are being paid. “No other President has been able to do this, BUT I HAVE!” Trump wrote. “This is also the answer to much less expensive, and far better, HEALTHCARE! Republicans, remember, this was done by us, and nobody else.” He continued, “This is a revolution in medicine, the biggest and most important event, EVER. If this story is properly told, we should win the Midterm Elections in RECORD NUMBERS. I AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT. TALK LOUDLY AND PROUDLY!” Trump has dramatically shifted his stance on affordability in recent weeks. He called the term itself “a new word” earlier this month, insisting that overall prices have come down, and said that “the biggest problem” of all is that “Republicans don’t talk about” his purported victories in lowering costs — and that “Democrats lie about it.” Trump has repeatedly insisted throughout his second term that overall costs have come down. The affordability discussion in the US has become impossible for Republicans to avoid. Even former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly recently warned the party’s leadership, “you better get something going,” while his ex-colleague Laura Ingraham said the 2026 midterms “look ugly” for Republicans. Other Republicans have voiced similar concerns about the upcoming elections. Trump’s post on Saturday follows substantial Democratic victories earlier this month in key elections across the country, in which affordability was central to their campaigns . Trump reacted to that blowout at the time with expected deflection, blaming the recent government shutdown for those losses, and blaming said shutdown on the opposition — concluding that Democrats had only won because “TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT.”