White House distances Hegseth from second strike on alleged drug boat – US politics live

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White House distances Hegseth from second strike on alleged drug boat – US politics live | Pete Hegseth

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White House distances defense secretary from second strike on alleged drug boat

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. A top US Navy commander ordered a second round of strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat on 2 September, not defense secretary Pete Hegseth, the White House has said.

The Washington Post had reported that a second strike was ordered to take out two survivors from the initial strike and to comply with an order by Hegseth that everyone be killed.

Amid accusations that the defense secretary had ordered a war crime, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday that Hegseth authorised the strikes but did not give an order to “kill everybody”, as the report said.

Pete Hegseth has declared recent reporting that he may have illegally ordered all people to be killed in a military strike in the Caribbean as “fake news”. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Leavitt said:

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.

When asked by a journalist to explain how the strike was not an example of a war crime, Leavitt again defended the actions, saying it was “conducted in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict”.

US Navy vice admiral Frank Bradley, who was commander of Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the attack, will provide a classified briefing to lawmakers on Thursday.

US Navy vice admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley will provide a classified briefing to lawmakers on Thursday. Photograph: US Special Operations Command/Reuters

Hegseth pledged his support for Bradley in a social media post which cast the decision as one made by the commander, not him.

“Let’s make one thing crystal clear: Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made – on the September 2 mission and all others since. America is fortunate to have such men protecting us,” Hegseth wrote.

Both the Senate and House armed services committee chairs have announced probes into the allegations, with few details currently disclosed on who or what was on board the vessel.

Since September, US airstrikes have targeted alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people.

Trump’s administration has offered no concrete evidence to back up the allegations behind its deadly conduct, and numerous experts have questioned the legality of the operations.

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FBI under Kash Patel has become ‘internally paralyzed by fear’, new report reveals

Joseph Gedeon

Joseph Gedeon is a politics breaking news reporter based in Washington

The FBI director, Kash Patel, is “in over his head” and leading a “chronically under-performing” agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts.

The leaked assessment, obtained by the New York Post and prepared for both congressional Senate and House judiciary committees, is based on confidential accounts from 24 FBI sources.

They accuse Patel of lacking the experience to lead the FBI and that managers will not take initiative without explicit direction for fear of being fired.

Kash Patel served as a House intelligence committee staffer and later held roles in the Trump administration’s first term. Photograph: Lenin Nolly/SIPA/Shutterstock

Patel’s first six months have produced a “troubling picture” of an organization described by insiders as a “rudderless ship”, with two sources independently characterizing the director as being “in over his head”.

One stated he “lacks the requisite knowledge or deep understanding of all the FBI’s unique and complex investigative and intelligence programs”.

One key accusation is that the FBI has become “internally paralyzed by fear”. Managers are “afraid of losing their jobs”, and “waiting on directions from the FBI director” rather than taking initiative, according to multiple sources.

You can read the full story here:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow today to discuss a plan to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. You can follow all the latest developments in our Ukraine blog.

“The special election in Tennessee’s seventh district will come down to what groups are motivated to turnout on election day, and who stays home,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.

“Those who report voting early break for Behn, 56% to 42%, whereas those who plan to vote on election day break for Van Epps, 51% to 39%. Voters under 40 are Behn’s strongest group, 64% of whom support her, while Van Epps’ vote increases with age, to 61% of those over 70.”

“There is also a stark gender divide; men break for Van Epps by nine points, 51% to 42%, whereas women break for Behn by six, 50% to 44%,” Kimball added.

Updated at 06.54 EST

A new Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll shows that 48% of voters in Tennessee’s seventh congressional district support Republican Matt Van Epps and 46% support Democrat Aftyn Behn (these results are within the margin of error).

Updated at 06.52 EST

Democrats hope to win Tennessee special election held in traditionally safe Republican district

A congressional special election in Tennessee has become the latest battleground for Democrats and Republicans as the contest is seen as a critical bellwether heading into the all important midterms next November.

Historically, Tennessee’s seventh congressional district is reliably conservative, with Republicans having controlled it for four decades. Donald Trump won there by 22 percentage points in last year’s presidential election but this special election looks like it is going to be much tighter with a strong Democratic candidate in the race.

With Republicans clinging to a wafer thin House majority, even a historically solid Republican district like this has attracted outsized media attention.

Tennessee voters on Tuesday will vote to replace Mark Green, a Republican who resigned from Congress in July. As my colleague Chris Stein notes in this story, in normal times, the GOP nominee, Matt Van Epps, would be considered a shoo-in.

But after Democrats stormed to victory in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere earlier this month – bringing with it evidence that voters who had backed the president were changing their minds – the party and its allies have poured money into the campaign of state representative Aftyn Behn, hoping to pull off what would amount to a coup.

The race between Matt Van Epps and Aftyn Behn in Tennessee has captured national attention. Photograph: George Walker IV/APShare

Radar revelation stokes fears Caribbean could be drawn into US-Venezuela crisis

The revelation that Trinidad and Tobago has approved the installation of a US military radar installation has stoked fears that the Caribbean could be drawn into the escalating crisis between the US and Venezuela.

Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, had attempted to allay concerns about a US C-17 aircraft that had landed in the country, claiming it was carrying marines to assist with a road construction project.

She also claimed she was told that no marines remained in the country. But images and videos later emerged of US marines at a Tobago hotel and of a radar installation on the island.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Trinidad and Tobago prime minister, at the state department in Washington in September 2025. Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP

After being pressed by reporters, Persad-Bissessar admitted on Friday that at least 100 marines were in the country, along with a military-grade radar, believed to be a long-range, high-performance AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR, which US Northrop Grumman defence company said is used for air surveillance, defense and counter-fire.

You can read the full story, by my colleagues Natricia Duncan and Kejan Haynes, here:

Despite an apparent willingness to keep diplomatic channels open, tensions between Washington and Caracas remain high as US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have been under way for months, along with a huge US military buildup in the region.

Nicolás Maduro, in power since 2013, has said that Donald Trump wants to remove him from office and warned that Venezuelan citizens and the military will resist any such attempt.

He said on Monday that Venezuelans are ready “to defend (the country) and lead it to the path of peace”. “We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” the Venezuelan president said.

Maduro has been accused of stealing his country’s election last year, which the opposition and much of the international community say he lost, and unleashing a subsequent deadly campaign of repression.

The Trump administration has been weighing Venezuela-related options to combat what it has portrayed as Maduro’s role in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans. Maduro has denied having any links to the illegal drug trade.

Donald Trump also confirmed on Sunday that he had spoken with the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, but did not provide details on what the two leaders discussed (the call is thought to have happened on 21 November).

“You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now,” Trump reportedly said during the call, according to the Miami Herald, offering safe passage for Maduro, his wife and his son “only if he agreed to resign right away”.

However, Maduro reportedly refused to step down immediately and allegedly made a series of counter-demands, including worldwide immunity from prosecution. You can read more here.

Nicolás Maduro speaks during a rally in Caracas on 1 December 2025. Photograph: Xinhua/ShutterstockShare

Updated at 05.55 EST

Answering questions on Air Force One on Sunday, Donald Trump said his administration “will look into” the reports of the second strike on the alleged boat on 2 September. But the president was quoted as having said: “I wouldn’t have wanted that – not a second strike.”