Republican megadonor Hal Lambert squirmed Saturday when pressed on the Trump administration’s potentially “illegal” boat strikes in September that critics say may have constituted a war crime, refusing to answer a direct question multiple times during an appearance on CNN’s “Table for Five.”
“They hit the boat the first time, and they're obviously trying to kill the people on the boat, that's the whole purpose of bombing things!” Lambert said, defending the Trump administration’s actions.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced renewed scrutiny this week after a whistleblower alleged that he had directly ordered a follow-up strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel off of the coast of Trinidad in September, a strike allegedly designed to kill two survivors clinging to the wreckage.
Lambert’s defense of the Trump administration was soon challenged by MediasTouch contributor and political commentator Adam Mockler, who reminded Lambert that of all sea vessels intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard in fiscal year 2024, about 27% of them carried no narcotics.
“The Coast Guard has admitted they interdicted 212 boats since 2024 with no violence, nothing happening, and basically one in four of those boats had no drugs on them,” Mockler said.
“So I want to ask you, would you be okay striking boats if there's a one-in-four chance that there's no drugs on the boat?”
Lambert immediately deflected, and instead began citing overdose statistics, a deflection that Mockler quickly shut down.
“Do you want to answer my question?” Mockler pressed.
“No, I'm going to give you some facts!” Lambert fired back.
“No, you should answer my question! Trump claims to care about drugs, yet he pardoned the former Hondorun president, and I have to sit across from you [claiming] Trump is doing this to save Americans,” Mockler said. “When I ask you a question, I want you to answer: if there's a 25% chance that there [are] no drugs on one of these boats, are you okay with striking them?”
Lambert then moved to question the source for the 25% figure, asking where it came from.
“The Coast Guard,” Mockler bluntly said.
GOP megadowner Hal Lambert (@MAGAindex) starts citing overdose statistics when pressed to defend Trump admin's potentially illegal boat strike@adammocklerr cites Coast Guard data suggesting 27% of intercepted boats carry no drugs, to which Lambert deflects
"Answer my question" pic.twitter.com/TkdvfA9GHP
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) December 6, 2025