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Hegseth says that he watched first strike but 'didn't stick around' for the hours following, as he defends admiral's decision to re-strike alleged drug trafficking boat
In today’s cabinet meeting, Pete Hegseth gave more details about the decision to re-strike an alleged drug trafficking boat off the coast of Venezuela on 2 September.
He said that he “watched that first strike” but ultimately did not “stick around for the hour or two hours” after.
“So I moved on to my next meeting,” the defense secretary said. “A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made the [decision], which he had the complete authority to do.”
Hegseth went on to back Adm Frank Bradley’s call as he described the unfolding events to reporters. “[Bradley] sunk the boat, sunk the boat and eliminated the threat. And it was the right call. We have his back, and the American people are safer, because Narco terrorists know you can’t bring drugs through the water and eventually on land,” Hegseth added.
His retelling today appears at odds with the version of events that he described to his former colleagues at Fox News, a day after the much-scrutinized second strike on 2 September. As my colleague, Robert Mackey, reported, on 3 September the defense secretary said that he watched the operation in real time.
“I can tell you that was definitely not artificial intelligence: I watched it live,” Hegseth said in an interview.
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The Associated Press is also reporting that US immigration officials are preparing for a targeted enforcement operation in Minnesota focused on Somali immigrants as Donald Trump becomes increasingly hostile toward the community.
The president on Tuesday called immigrants from the east African country “garbage” and said they “contribute nothing.”
The New York Times reported that the Minneapolis-St Paul metro area, which has a large Somali immigrant population, would see increased deportation efforts. A source told the AP that the operation could start in the coming days and that immigration agents would spread across the region, primarily targeting people with final orders of deportation.
The Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, said Trump’s rhetoric “violates the moral fabric of what we stand by in this country as Americans”, and that Somali immigrants have started businesses and created jobs and added to the city’s “cultural fabric”.
City police officers will not work with federal agents overseeing immigration enforcement, Frey said.
“Targeting Somali people means that due process will be violated, mistakes will be made, and let’s be clear, it means that American citizens will be detained for no other reason than the fact that they look like they are Somali,” he said.
Here's a recap of the day so far
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In a cabinet meeting that lasted for more than two hours, defense secretary Pete Hegseth gave more details about the decision to re-strike an alleged drug trafficking boat off the coast of Venezuela on 2 September. He said that he “watched that first strike” but ultimately did not “stick around for the hour or two hours” after. “So I moved on to my next meeting,” the defense secretary said. “A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made the which he had the complete authority to do.” Hegseth went on to say that decorated US Navy admiral Frank Bradley made the “right call” as he described the unfolding events to reporters.
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For his part, Donald Trump said that countries manufacturing and selling drugs to the US are “subject to attack”, adding that strikes wouldn’t be limited to Venezuela. The president also said that the administration is “going to start doing those strikes on land,” after defending his crackdown on alleged narcotics smugglers, which has largely been contained to the sea.
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Democrats have come out swinging against the administration over the much-scrutinized second boat strike. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called Hegseth “spineless” and “a national embarrassment” and called for the defense secretary to release the full unedited tape of the deadly strikes on the alleged drug boat.
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In his ninth cabinet meeting since returning to office, Trump also said that the national guard will soon deploy to New Orleans. He added that the Republican governor (and staunch ally of the president) of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, had called him and asked for help. “We’re going there in a couple of weeks,” Trump said.
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The president noted early on in the meeting that he would be announcing his selection for the next chair of the Federal Reserve early next year. He repeated that he talked to treasury secretary Scott Bessent about taking over the Fed but Bessent didn’t want the job.
'I don't want them in our country': Trump ends cabinet meeting with xenophobic rant on Somalis in US
As he ended a cabinet meeting that lasted for more than two hours, the president launched into a xenophobic rant against the Somali community in the US.
A reminder that he recently ended Temporary Protected Status from Somali nationals living in Minnesota, and has frequently disparaged Ilhan Omar – the Democratic representative who was born in Somalia but has been a US citizen since 2000, after arriving in the country as a refugee. He continued these kinds of vitriolic remarks today. Calling the Minnesota congresswoman “garbage”.
“I don’t want them in our country,” Trump said of Somali people living in the US. “Somebody said, ‘oh that’s not politically correct’, I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country.”
As the president continued denigrating the Somali community, members of his cabinet appeared to bang the table in agreement. “These are people that do nothing but complain,” Trump said. “When they come from hell, and they complain and do nothing but bitch. We don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.”
'Real trust funds for every American child': Trump announces new investment accounts for children
The president announced the so-called “Trump accounts” program today. These are tax-deferred savings accounts for American children.
“Trump accounts will be the first, I guess, you could say, real trust funds for every American child,” the president said, adding that the federal government will also automatically be making a one time seed contribution of $1,000 into accounts for “every newborn US citizen”.
Earlier, I reported that billionaires Michael and Susan Dell are contributing about $6.25bn dollars to the program– amounting to $250 per account for children under 10 years old, who live in zip codes where the median household income is $150,000 or less.
A reminder that this is the video of the first strike on 2 September that defense secretary Pete Hegseth posted to social media.
However, this footage doesn’t show the second strike (which reportedly killed two survivors) or has been cut to only show the first.
'We know the routes they take': Trump threatens land strikes to combat drug cartels
During his cabinet meeting today, Donald Trump said that countries manufacturing and selling drugs to the US are “subject to attack”, adding that strikes wouldn’t be limited to Venezuela.
Trump also said that the administration is “going to start doing those strikes on land,” after defending his crackdown on alleged narcotics smugglers, which has largely been contained to the sea.
“You know, the land is much easier, much easier. And we know the routes they take. We know everything about them. We know where they live. We know where the bad ones live, and we’re going to start that very soon too,” the president said. “When we start that, we’re going to drive those numbers down so low.”
Hegseth says that he watched first strike but 'didn't stick around' for the hours following, as he defends admiral's decision to re-strike alleged drug trafficking boat
In today’s cabinet meeting, Pete Hegseth gave more details about the decision to re-strike an alleged drug trafficking boat off the coast of Venezuela on 2 September.
He said that he “watched that first strike” but ultimately did not “stick around for the hour or two hours” after.
“So I moved on to my next meeting,” the defense secretary said. “A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made the [decision], which he had the complete authority to do.”
Hegseth went on to back Adm Frank Bradley’s call as he described the unfolding events to reporters. “[Bradley] sunk the boat, sunk the boat and eliminated the threat. And it was the right call. We have his back, and the American people are safer, because Narco terrorists know you can’t bring drugs through the water and eventually on land,” Hegseth added.
His retelling today appears at odds with the version of events that he described to his former colleagues at Fox News, a day after the much-scrutinized second strike on 2 September. As my colleague, Robert Mackey, reported, on 3 September the defense secretary said that he watched the operation in real time.
“I can tell you that was definitely not artificial intelligence: I watched it live,” Hegseth said in an interview.
Trump says Hegseth 'didn't know' about 'second attack having to do with two people'
Taking questions from reporters at his cabinet meeting today, Donald Trump defended his Pentagon chief about reports that Pete Hegseth ordered an US Navy admiral to re-strike an alleged drug boat with two survivors.
“Pete didn’t know about second attack having to do with two people,” Trump said. “I can say this. I want those boats taken out.”
Rubio heaps praise on Trump's foreign policy moves, says he is 'only leader' who can help end war in Ukraine
Rounding out comments today, secretary of state Marco Rubio said that Donald Trump is the “only leader in the world” that can help end the war in Ukraine as he praised the president’s foreign policy efforts.
“Even as we speak to you now, Steve Witkoff is in Moscow trying to find a way to end this war,” Rubio added, referring to the ongoing summit between Putin and the US delegation that’s been going on for more than two hours.
“More people are dying a week in that war than have died in the entirety of the US is involvement in Afghanistan or Iraq,” Rubio said.
My colleague, Joseph Gedeon, reports that a DC national guard spokesperson confirmed that members supporting Donald Trump’s operation in the nation’s capital “have been armed with their assigned duty weapons since August 2025, in support of civil authorities and at the request of the lead federal agency”.
The spokesperson added that “every service member is trained and qualified on their assigned weapon in accordance with Department of War standards”.
This is Trump’s ninth cabinet meeting since he returned to office earlier this year. It’s been going on for over an hour and a half. In many ways, it’s similar to roundtables past. Most cabinet secretaries and agency heads have heaped praise on the administration’s policies and thanked their colleagues.
