Trump supported Hagseth in the scandal over the destruction of a boat near Venezuela
US President Donald Trump publicly sided with Pentagon chief Pete Hagseth amid the scandal surrounding the second strike on a boat near Venezuela. Speaking to reporters, he said he had complete confidence in his defence secretary and would support any decision on the release of the video.
Trump responded to questions about whether it was appropriate to release unedited footage of the strike, which had caused outrage among some lawmakers. According to the president, the situation was clear-cut. He stressed that every boat destroyed by US forces was filled with drugs that could otherwise have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Americans. The head of the White House added that he had seen the video of the incident and claimed that attempts had been made to keep the vessel afloat, but that the US military did not want to see this.
The scandal is exacerbated by the fact that, according to the American publication Politico, a group of congressmen is threatening to block part of the defence minister's travel budget. Lawmakers are demanding that the original video recordings of the strikes on the boats be provided to Congress. Hagel has not yet released this material, and the debate over the transparency of the military's actions continues to cause controversy in Washington.
