Trump and Hegseth provide new details on controversial strikes on alleged drug boat

The president touted the strikes and the effort to combat drug trafficking, saying the number of deaths are "way down" in the U.S. due in part to the strikes on alleged drug boats. He said the administration would soon start strikes on land as well. 

"We're going to start doing those strikes on land, too," Mr. Trump said. "You know, the land is 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 suggested Venezuela might not be the only country at risk, though he said Venezuela's been "very bad."

"If they come in through a certain country or any country or if we think they're building mills for whether it's fentanyl or cocaine, I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia, is making cocaine … anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack," he said. 

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In response to a question about the Sept. 2 strike of a Venezuelan boat allegedly transporting drugs, Mr. Trump and Hegseth provided new details about the attack.

The president said he has not gotten all of the information about the strikes, and relies on Hegseth.

"To me it was an attack. It wasn't one strike, two strikes, three strikes," Mr. Trump said. "I didn't know about the second strike." 

The president said Hegseth was "satisfied" and "didn't know about a second attack having to do with two people."

"I want those boats taken out and, if we have to, we'll attack on land also, just like we attack on sea," Mr. Trump said.

Hegseth, meanwhile, said he watched a live feed of the first strike on Sept. 2 but left before the second attack. 

"I watched that first strike live. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we've got a lot of things to do. So I didn't stick around for the hour, two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs," he said. "So I moved on to my next meeting."

He said he learned later that Bradley, the admiral in charge of the operation, made the decision to "ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat."

The defense secretary said Bradley "made the correct decision" and had "complete authority" to order a follow-on strike.

"And I wish everybody could be in the room watching our professionals, our professionals like Mitch Bradley, Admiral Mitch Bradley, and others at JSOC and SOCOM, other commanders, the deliberative process, the detail, the rigorous, the intel, the legal, the evidence-based way that we're able to, with the sources and methods that we can't reveal here, that make sure that every one of those drug boats is tied to a designated terrorist organization," he said.

Hegseth said he did not "personally" see survivors after the first strike.

"I did not personally see survivors, but I stand — because the thing was on fire. It was exploded, and fire and smoke, you can't see anything, you got digital — this is called the fog of war," he said. "This is what you in the press don't understand. You sit in your air conditioned offices or up on Capitol Hill, you nitpick and you plant fake stories in the Washington Post about 'kill everybody' — phrases on anonymous sources not based in anything. Not based in any truth at all. And then you want to throw out really irresponsible terms about American heroes, about the judgment that they made."

Mr. Trump has "empowered commanders to do what is necessary, which is dark and difficult things in the dead of night, on behalf of the American people. We support them, and we will stop the poisoning of the American people," the defense secretary said.

The president was asked if Americans are being patient enough with the changes he's making in an effort to bring prices down. Mr. Trump blamed news outlets for how Americans feel about prices, saying the issue of affordability is a "hoax" that was "started by Democrats."

"We're bringing the prices down, way down," he said, adding that his administration will get prices down "further."

"Now we have normal inflation," he added. 

Inflation and the cost of living continue to be top issues for voters. Inflation is at 3%, above the 2% target set by the Federal Reserve.

The president, asked whether Elon Musk is back in his circle of friends, said "I really don't know."

"I like Elon a lot," the president added. "He really helped during the election with his endorsement." 

Mr. Trump and Musk, the CEO of Tesla, had a dramatic and public falling out earlier this year, after Musk served as a key partner early in the president's second term. 

The president said he and Musk had "one problem — I didn't want to have everybody have to have an electric car, and he makes electric cars."

"I think we get along well," Mr. Trump added. 

Asked about the search for the next Fed chair to succeed Jerome Powell, Mr. Trump said his administration looked at about 10 candidates, some of whom were interviewed by Bessent, the treasury secretary.

"We have it down to one," the president said.    

Mr. Trump did not divulge who the final contender is.

The president said the administration is "going to rebuild Dulles airport" in Virginia, the largest airport in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and one of the busiest in the country.

"It's not a good airport. It should be a great airport," Mr. Trump said. "It's not a good airport at all. It's a terrible airport."

The president said it was "incorrectly designed," with a "great building and a bad airport." 

"We're going to turn that around and we're going to make Dulles airport, serving Washington and Virginia, Maryland, etc., we're going to make that into something really spectacular," he said. "We have an amazing plan for it."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy agreed that it's "not a great airport," pointing to a recent crash on one of the airport's "people movers." Duffy said the Transportation Department would announce a request for bids later today.

As the first Cabinet member to speak, Hegseth doubled down on the Pentagon targeting alleged drug boats, including in the case of the boat that the White House has acknowledged was struck twice. 

"As I've said and will say again, we've only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean," Hegseth said. "Because they have been poisoning the American people. And Joe Biden tried to approach it with kid gloves."

"We're stopping the drugs, we're striking the boats, we're defeating narco-terrorists," he added.

Hegseth also said the administration stands by commanders making tough decisions. 

"As President Trump always has our back, we always have the backs of our commanders who are making decisions in difficult situations. And we do in this case, and all these strikes. They're making judgment calls, ensuring that they defend the American people. They've done the right things, we'll keep doing that, and we have their backs, Mr. President," he said. 

Before the Cabinet meeting, Hegseth's press secretary, Kingsley Wilson, said during a briefing at the Pentagon that the president and secretary are ultimately the ones responsible for the strikes. 

"At the end of the day, the secretary and the president are the ones directing these strikes," the Pentagon press secretary said. "And any follow-on strikes like those which were directed by Admiral Bradley, the secretary 100% agrees with."

Mr. Trump briefly expressed support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is seated to his left, saying he's "doing a great job."

Hegseth has come under scrutiny after the Washington Post reported that the military launched a follow-on strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat on Sept. 2 that killed two survivors of the initial attack. The Post reported that Hegseth gave a "spoken directive" to leave no survivors of the attack.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that the early September attack included more than one missile strike but denied that Hegseth gave an order to kill all aboard the vessel.

"With respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated," Leavitt said.

Adm. Frank Bradley is a U.S. Navy SEAL officer and the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. He was leading Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the Sept. 2 strike and oversaw the operation.

The president reassured his Cabinet that he's sharper than he was in his 50s. The White House revealed more information about his October physical on Monday.

"Right now, I think I'm sharper than I was 25 years ago, but who the hell knows," he said. "I took, by the way, I took my physical. I got all As, everything."

A White House doctor said that the president had "advanced imaging" done of his abdomen and cardiovascular system during his physical, which revealed no issues.

The president reiterated his pitch for addressing health care costs, saying he wants money that's used to subsidize premiums under the Affordable Care Act to go directly to consumers. An extension of the ACA tax credits, which expire at the end of the year, was the central issue in the government shutdown earlier in the fall, and competing plans to address health care costs are expected to take center stage on Capitol Hill later this month.

"Obamacare is a disaster," Mr. Trump said. "I want the money to go to the people."

Mr. Trump forecasted that "something's going to happen" on health care costs, saying "it's probably not going to be easy because the Democrats, frankly, they don't want to make a good deal for the people."

"They just want to make a bad deal for the country, they want to make a bad deal for the Republican Party," he added.

The president said "the Republican Party is united," saying again that they want funds to go directly to the people to buy their own health care. He said "we're negotiating that now with the Democrats."

Mr. Trump renewed his attacks on Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, calling him a "real dope" and "incompetent."

"We have a guy that's just a stubborn ox, who probably doesn't like your favorite president," the president said.

Mr. Trump frequently targets Powell and the Fed for not moving quickly enough to lower interest rates. He said he will be announcing a new candidate for Fed chair early next year and joked that he talked with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the job, "but he doesn't want it."

Mr. Trump tapped Powell as chair of the Fed's Board of Governors in 2018. His term as chair is set to end in May 2026.

The Fed cut its benchmark interest rate in September and October, and its rate-setting committee is set to meet again next week.

The president said the focus on "affordability" is a "fake narrative" driven by Democrats, even though inflation continues to be a top issue for voters. 

"There's this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about, affordability," the president said, adding, "The word affordability is a con job by the Democrats."

"The word affordability is a Democrat scam," he said.

Mr. Trump kicked off his Cabinet meeting just before 12 p.m. local time. He said it will be the final gathering of his Cabinet for 2025, which he called "a year that will go down as the most consequential and successful first year of any administration."

"Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world," the president said.