White House Confirms US Forces Conducted Follow-Up Strike on Drug Boat

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on Dec. 1, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ AFP via Getty ImagesWhite House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed U.S. forces conducted a second strike on a drug boat in the Caribbean Sea on Sept. 2, amid growing scrutiny around the military operation.Last week, The Washington Post was the first to report that U.S. forces who had attacked a drug boat on Sept. 2 had ordered a second strike after observing at least two survivors clinging to the wreckage of the destroyed vessel. The outlet raised the prospect that such a follow-on strike may constitute a war crime, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have since vowed to probe the incident.