President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would release any video the administration has of the Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that resulted in two survivors being killed. Asked in the Oval Office by ABC News whether the footage could be shared so the American public could see it, Trump replied, “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release no problem.” He previously posted video of an earlier strike.
Pressed about accountability and the conduct of the attack, Trump repeatedly framed the situation as an act of war, saying, “this is war,” despite Congress not having authorized war and ongoing scrutiny of the initial strike. When ABC’s Selina Wang asked whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Admiral Mitch Bradley—whom Hegseth says ordered the second strike—or others should face consequences if survivors were killed while clinging to the boat, Trump did not give a direct answer. He argued the operations target people responsible for killing Americans, saying the campaign would continue against boats and soon extend to land operations where traffickers manufacture and move drugs.
Wang asked explicitly if Trump supported a decision to kill survivors after the initial strike. Trump responded, “No. I support the decision to knock out the boats. And whoever is piloting those boats, most of them are gone, but whoever are piloting those boats, they’re guilty of trying to kill people in our country.”
Trump’s agreement to release any available video came ahead of Admiral Bradley’s scheduled closed-door appearance before lawmakers in Congress, where some Republicans have also sought to view the footage. Democrats and legal experts have warned that killing survivors could amount to a war crime. ABC News reported new details Wednesday indicating a source familiar with the incident said the survivors were considered “still in the fight” and valid targets because they returned to the boat, were believed to be communicating with others nearby, and were salvaging some of the drugs that had been aboard.