Fox's Brit Hume Warns Trump Administration of Potential Issue if Boat Survivors Were Ordered to Be Killed

Brit Hume, the Chief Political Analyst for Fox News, stated that members of the Trump administration could face accountability if investigations confirm they ordered the killing of survivors from a Caribbean boat strike. On September 2, U.S. forces targeted a suspected drug trafficking vessel near Trinidad. According to a report in the Washington Post, anonymous sources claim Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth allegedly instructed that all individuals on board be killed.

During the initial Navy strike, two survivors were left clinging to the wreckage. Reports indicate that Admiral Mitch Bradley considered the survivors valid targets and allegedly directed that Hegseths orders be executed. A subsequent strike reportedly resulted in the deaths of the remaining individuals.

The Trump administration has conducted operations against vessels accused of drug smuggling in the Caribbean and Pacific waters, yet no public evidence has been provided to substantiate these claims. Legal experts note that even if the boats were involved in illegal activity, the strikes raise serious legal concerns.

On Special Report Monday, Hume emphasized that the key issue is the intent behind the second strike: whether it aimed to fully destroy the damaged boat or specifically target survivors. If the purpose was to eliminate survivors, that would be a significant legal problem. If casualties occurred incidentally while completing the destruction of the vessel, that presents a different scenario, he explained.

Legal authorities broadly agree that deliberately targeting survivors would violate the law. Michael Schmitt, a former Air Force attorney and U.S. Naval War College professor emeritus, told PBS, Lethal force may only be used when there is an immediate threat to life or risk of serious injury.

Similarly, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman highlighted in The New Republic that the Defense Departments Law of War Manual strictly prohibits no quarter actions, forbids attacks intended to leave no survivors, and states that individuals who are hors de combat cannot be targeted.

Author: Sophia Brooks