President Donald Trump said Sunday that Pete Hegseth told him he did not order the killing of everyone aboard a suspected Caribbean drug smuggling ship attacked by the U.S. military in September, as pressure continues to mount on the defense secretary over an explosive Washington Post report published Friday.

The article recounted a Sept. 2 attack the U.S. military carried out on a ship carrying 11 people. After the original missile attack on the ship erupted, commanders, watching via a live drone feed, noticed two survivors clinging to the wreckage, The Post said. The Special Operations commander overseeing the operation then ordered a second strike to kill those two people to meet Hegseth’s demands, the newspaper said, citing two sources familiar with the operation.

“The order was to kill everyone,” one of the sources told The Post.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Hegseth told him that “he didn’t say that and I believe him 100%.”

Trump added that he “would not have wanted” a second attack, but Hegseth’s account reassured him.

“I have great confidence in him,” Trump said of Hegseth.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and President Donald Trump, right, during an announcement about the National Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 23, 2025.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and President Donald Trump, right, during an announcement about the National Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 23, 2025.

Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Hegseth attacked the Post for the report last week, but did not directly contradict the content of the article.

“As usual, fake news is generating more fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reports to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” Hegseth wrote on X.

As a result of the report, the Senate Armed Services Committee “will conduct vigorous oversight to determine the facts surrounding these circumstances,” said Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the panel’s chairman, and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the committee’s ranking member. The House Armed Services Committee also announced a similar investigation.

Separately, other lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), warned that “it is very possible that a war crime may have been committed” in this case.

Meanwhile, asked if he had any concerns about the way the United States has been carrying out attacks on ships, Trump responded: “Very little.”

Trump added that he believes the US military has been “doing an incredible job.”

However, despite the president’s praise, lawmakers have raised questions about the legal justification used to carry out the attacks that have so far killed more than 80 people since early September, according to The New York Times.