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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave new details Saturday about how he authorized the Trump Administration’s first strike on a suspected drug tanker in Venezuela 2, he told FOX News’ Lucas Tomlinson after lighting up the Pentagon.
Earlier in his keynote speech, Hegseth declared that President Donald Trump is the heir to Ronald Reagan’s “doctrine” doctrine, accusing BIPARTISAN leaders of taking endless wars.
After his speech, Hegseth sat down with Tomlinson for a Q & A that revealed new information about September 2, which was the first in a series of more than 20 US attacks on narco-terrorists linked to the Caribbean.
He also denied reporting that he had ordered the troops to kill all the people on the boat.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum on December 6, 2025, at the Ronald Reagan National Defense Library in Simi Valley, California. Hesseth spoke of building “peace with strength,” and emphasized the need to have a prepared military that would deter aggression from the opposition. (Photo by Caylo Seals / Getty Images)
“Are you here from the Washington Post? I don’t know where you get your sources, but they are,” Hegsseth said, “when asked if he ever gave such an order. “Of course not … you don’t go and say, ‘Kill them.’ It’s carefully funny. “
Hegs also said it took “several weeks, maybe a month” to build the intelligence needed for the first strike. He said the Pentagon had to fulfill a legacy that had been focused “10,000 miles around on the other side of the world for a very long time.”
He continued to have batting authority at his level only in the first performance due to “strategic influence.”
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers the keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Saturday, in Simi Valley, Calif. (FOX News/Pool)
“The short I got before that strike was wide, it was over,” he said. “The military side, the military side, the lawyers, the Intel analysts, the red mix … all the information you need to beat a designated terrorist organization.”
Hegseth said the target was part of an organization President Trump has officially designated as a terrorist group.
“My job was to take it out or not,” he said.
He allowed the strike.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers the keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Saturday, in Simi Valley, Calif. (FOX News/Pool)
According to Hegseth, he looked at this mission feed for “maybe five minutes or more” before moving on to other operations if the strike turned into a tactical kill.
Hours later, Hegseth said he was notified by management of the second strike.
“There had to be a re-attack, because there were a few people who were still fighting,” he said, calling for access to radiation, a possible connection point by boat with the remaining drugs.
“I fully support that strike,” he said. “I would have called myself the same.”
He added that counterattacks are common in combat zones and fell “well within the authority of Admiral Bradley,” who is now overseeing the decisions. Hegseth said he no longer sees the authority to agree.
Addressing questions about survivor policies, the Hegseths pointed to a recent incident involving a drug-laden ship.
“In that particular case, the first strike didn’t take off, and a few guys jumped in and swam,” he said. After the ship was hit again and sank, American forces brought back the survivors.
“We sent them back to their countries,” he said, adding that the situation “did not change our law” but reflected different circumstances.
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Hegsseth said that jobs already have a deterrent effect. “We’re putting ourselves on the bottom of the Caribbean … it’s going to make the American people safer.”
Tomlinson pressed Hegseth on President Trump’s statement that he had no objection to releasing unedited video of the first strike.
“We’re reviewing it now,” Hegseth said, citing concerns about sources, methods, “and ongoing operations.
OX News Channel’s Shannon Breem (R.) Office of the management and budget director Russ Areught (l.) at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday, Simi Valley, Calif.
Hegseth said defense spending is one of the “enduring problems [him] UP, “Adding that he just entered the oval office meetings on the FY26 and FY27 budgets.
Asked directly if defense spending would increase, he replied: “I think that amount is going up,” while refusing to go ahead with President Trump.
“We need a renewed defense industrial base,” he said. “We need that power. We need it yesterday.”
Tomlinson also asked if the Hegseth regretted using the signal before fighting in Yemen, bringing back a general review of the inspector general.
“I don’t live with any regrets,” Hegseth said. “I know exactly where my compass is in our forces.” He pointed out that morality has been created under Trump.
“The morale within our military … the desire to rejoin and re-enlist is at historic levels,” he said.
Asked if he prefers armies armed with more AI-enabled tools or autonomous systems that he recruits, Hegseth said that today’s Warfield needs both.
“It has to be both of us,” she said. “What he’s doing in AI to ten, 100, 1,000-X Speed of Sensing … is significant.”
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Tomlinson ended with a traditional reagan field question: who does Thegseth want to win the war game.
“Well, I’m in the navy,” he said, before adding that the marines had been ‘powerful’ in political times in recent years.
