Hegseth defends boat strikes: 'Deterrence has to matter'

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Tuesday stood by his targeting of suspected Venezuelan drug boats amid an ongoing media frenzy over his reported issuance of a double tap strike on one.

Under Hegseth's leadership, the Department of War has conducted a number of missile strikes on myriad watercraft, leading some libertarians and Democrats in Congress to raise due process concerns. Hegseth, nonetheless, stood by the approach during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting.

"Deterrence has to matter, not arrest and hand over and then do it again, the rinse and repeat approach of previous administrations," he said. "This is meant to get after that approach, and I will just end by saying, as president, Trump always has our backs."

"We always have the back of our commanders who are making decisions in difficult situations than we do in this case and all these strikes, they're making judgment calls and ensuring that they defend the American people," he went on. "They've done the right things. We'll keep doing that, and we have their backs. Mr. President, good job. Thank you very much."

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.