How Trump’s Caribbean boat strikes sparked war-crime questions and bipartisan pushback in Congress

US President Donald Trump

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has raised serious concerns that a follow-up strike carried out during President Trump’s expanding boat-strike campaign in the Caribbean may amount to a war crime, following a Washington Post report claiming survivors of an initial attack were deliberately targeted, the New York Times reported.

The Post reported on Friday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had issued a verbal order to “kill everyone aboard” suspected drug-smuggling boats, leading a military commander to authorise a second strike in early September after some passengers survived the first. According to the report, more than 80 people have been killed since the offensive began.

Representative Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio and former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told CBS’s Face the Nation that if the report was accurate, the action would be “very serious” and “an illegal act.” Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, similarly told CBS the strike “rises to the level of a war crime.” On CNN, Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, said the description “seems to” meet that definition.

The reaction comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Trump administration’s self-declared military campaign against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and Pacific—operations launched without congressional approval. Lawmakers have questioned the legal justification for labeling strikes on suspected drug boats as actions within a “formal armed conflict,” as the administration has claimed.

Over the weekend, senior Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees ordered inquiries into the conduct and legal basis of the operations. Senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican committee chair, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat, issued a joint statement saying they would conduct “vigorous oversight” to establish the facts.

In a parallel move, Representatives Mike Rogers, Republican of Alabama, and Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington, announced that the House Armed Services Committee had begun gathering information to obtain “a full accounting” of the September strike.

Hegseth, in a statement on Friday, attacked the Post report as “fabricated and inflammatory” and insisted the military had been transparent about the lethal nature of the operations. He did not fully reject the allegation that a follow-up strike was ordered but said the actions were aligned with mission objectives.

President Trump, speaking to reporters on Sunday, expressed confidence in Hegseth. While saying he personally “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike that killed survivors, he noted that Hegseth had denied wrongdoing.

Democrats have repeatedly condemned the strikes as unlawful, calling them extrajudicial killings. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York demanded that Hegseth release “the full, unedited tapes of the strikes” for public review. A group of six lawmakers, including Sen. Mark

Kelly, also released a video earlier this month reminding military personnel that they are obliged to refuse unlawful orders—a message now under Pentagon investigation.

Some Republicans have begun distancing themselves as well, even as others defend the operations. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma dismissed the Post report and said Trump was “protecting the United States by being very proactive.” Meanwhile, far-right members such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have objected to the broader expansion of military operations abroad, arguing it contradicts Trump’s “America First” posture.

The operations occur against a backdrop of rising US military pressure on Venezuela, with the administration asserting that the boat strikes are aimed at dismantling narcotics networks. Critics argue the lack of congressional authorization and murky rules of engagement have created a dangerous legal vacuum.

Congressional committees are expected to call Pentagon officials to testify under oath as inquiries proceed.