A Republican senator has warned self-styled Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to stop releasing "snap statements" on the boat bombing controversy.
Four people were killed in a US drug boat strike in the Caribbean, with Hegseth alleged to have ordered the killing of survivors after the first strike. Top Democrat and Republican representatives, according to The Guardian, ruled Hegseth had not ordered a military strike to kill surviving members of the boat, which is alleged to have been carrying drugs in the Caribbean.
Republican representatives are now saying it is up to Donald Trump to decide on Hegseth's future with the administration, though some believe he has reached the end of the line.
Speaking to The Hill, Senator Thom Tills has warned Hegseth to not "say anything" further on the boat strike as the controversy continues to swell over his alleged orders. Senator Tills said, "Pete Hegseth has done things that I completely agree with but he’s also done things that are confusing to me."
"You just got to own it. If you share classified information outside of classified channels with people who don’t have clearance. It’s pretty cut-and-tried. Just accept it. Just have the information and don’t undermine your credibility by making a snap statement that proves to be either false or inadequate."
"I believe that when there were reports that there was a so-called double-tap. There was some reporting that [Hegseth] said it was either fake news or not true. The next day, it proved to be true."
"It’s just bush league. Get the data. Don’t say anything until you’re absolutely certain. You’re the secretary of Defense for the United States of America. Precision is important."
Hegseth has been facing growing criticism from both Democrats and Republicans over the strikes, with an ever-evolving account of a "double tap strike". Trump has tried to distance himself from the situation by saying he "wouldn't have ordered the second strike."
Journalist Michael Wolff in an episode of Inside Trump's Head suggested Trump is trying to distance himself from the strike as he is a man who "lives in the moment."
Wolff said, "People make the mistake of thinking of Trump, as other presidents, that somehow he has his eye on the arc of history. Somehow, he sees how his agenda is playing out or not playing out I want to... try to correct that Trump is a man who lives in the moment. It is about his stimulation now and if that fails him, I think everything starts to fail him."
"And if we're suddenly in a political moment of which a more complicated, knotty, draggy political moment, the stimulation is going to go down, and, and I'm not sure that he knows what to do with that, except, you know, his head droops and...then lists to the side because he is fundamentally bored, not only just old," the author added.