White House 'throws the military under the bus' after Leavitt confirms second strike order

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaking to reporters on March 17, 2025 (Joshua Sukoff/ Shutterstock.com)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday responded to questions about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's alleged order to fire on boat strike survivors a second time. Her comments appear to try and absolve Hegseth of direct responsibility, prompting a flood of reactions, with one commentator saying it was "not making this any better."

Last week, the Washington Post released a report claiming that Secretary of Defense Hegseth, back on Sept. 2, ordered a second strike on individuals who had seemingly survived an initial strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. The Trump administration has defended these strikes, claiming the targets to be "narcoterrorists" involved in drug trafficking. Despite that stance, they have not been able to provide evidence of their claims, and critics argue that the unilateral strikes would still be illegal even if there target were provably criminals.

On Monday, Leavitt was pressed on the report and claimed that Hegseth had given a directive to Admiral Frank M. Bradley, who then ordered the second strike. This appeared to confirm that the strike occurred and was undertaken deliberately, despite a prior comment from Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell claiming that the "entire narrative was false."

"With respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes," Leavitt 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."

Reacting to the comments, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a prominent GOP critic of President Donald Trump, suggested that Hegseth was preparing to cast all blame for the strike onto others. Referencing a recent video released by Democrat lawmakers, he also said the strike was further proof of why military members must ignore unlawful orders.

"Looks like Trump and Hegseth might be preparing to throw the military under the bus on the second strike," Kinzinger wrote on BlueSky. "This is why you don’t execute illegal orders. Because you are responsible."

Journalist Chuck Todd similarly noted Leavitt is "not denying the order, just denying who gave the order."

"Fascinating to see this [White House] help Hegseth find a scapegoat for an obvious illegal order," Todd wrote onX.

Journalist Aaron Rupar summed up Leavitt's general response to the repeated questions about the strikes as "rote."

"They're definitely not making this any better!" journalist Chris Geidner wrote.

Writing on X, CNN's Aaron Blake noted that Leavitt's comments about Hegseth directing Bradley did not conflict with the initial report on the second strike.

"Leavitt's confirmation of the second strike makes it even more evident that Hegseth's initial response was a huffily worded non-denial." Blake wrote. "The initial reports never said he directly ordered the second strike. They just said he had initially ordered that everyone be killed. Then everyone was killed — in part with that second strike."

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