President Donald Trump, after initially saying he had “no problem” releasing video of the Sept. 2 attack on a suspected drug ship in the Caribbean Sea that killed two survivors, is now changing course and deferring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“I didn’t say that,” Trump claimed when ABC News chief political correspondent Rachel Scott pressed him Monday about his Dec. 3 comments.
“Anything Hegseth wants to do is fine with me,” Trump said Monday.
in a interview with politician Posted Tuesday morning, Trump further distanced himself from the controversy when asked if he believed a second attack on survivors was necessary.
“Well, it seemed like they were trying to turn the ship around. But I’m not involved in that. That’s up to them,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump attends a roundtable discussion in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, December 8, 2025.
Yuri Gripas/EPA/Shutterstock
Although last week, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson spoke about Trump and Hegseth’s responsibility for the attack.
“At the end of the day, the president and the secretary are the ones directing these attacks, and any subsequent attack directed by Admiral Bradley, the secretary is 100% on board,” Wilson told reporters at a Pentagon briefing on Dec. 2.
Selina Wang, ABC’s chief White House correspondent, asked the president in the Oval Office on Dec. 3: “Will you release video of that attack so the American people can see for themselves?”
Trump responded: “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’ll certainly release it without a problem.”
Authorities have confirmed that there were four military attacks on the suspected drug trafficking ship on September 2, with the first attack killing nine of the 11 people on board. About 40 minutes later, a second attack was ordered to kill the two survivors. Two additional strikes were ordered to sink the ship, authorities said.
Some Democrats and legal experts have suggested that the killing of survivors could constitute a war crime.
President Trump announced on his social media platform, on September 2, 2025, that he ordered U.S. military forces to conduct “a kinetic strike against positively identified Aragua Train narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”
@realDonaldTrump/Social Truth
Hegseth, who was heading to the Capitol on Tuesday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine to brief the “Gang of Eight” on national security issues, has not committed to releasing video of the attack. The defense secretary expressed concern that the release of the video could expose sources or methods that should be protected.
Hegseth has also suggested that the murdered survivors posed an imminent threat.
Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee who viewed the video of the attack, rejected the description provided by Hegseth and other Republicans.
Smith, during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, called the video “deeply disturbing” and said it “didn’t seem like these two survivors were in a position to continue the fight.”
Members of Congress are trying to pass new legislation to force Hegseth to provide lawmakers with raw footage of the strike.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
In the Politico interview, Trump was asked if Hegseth should testify under oath about the Sept. 2 attack.
“I don’t care if he does it. He can do it if he wants. I don’t care,” Trump said. He added that he thinks Hegseth is “doing a great job.”
The September 2 boat strike is part of what the government has called its “war” against drug cartels. There have been more than 20 military attacks on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Mary Bruce contributed to this report.
