President Donald Trump's Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, seems unlikely to face any accountability for the strikes against alleged drug boats in international waters, according to one analyst.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has conducted over 20 strikes against alleged drug boats, killing more than 80 people, according to media reports. One strike in particular has faced renewed scrutiny after video evidence emerged showing U.S. military forces striking a boat a second time after it had been capsized.
Hegseth has been accused of ordering the so-called "double-tap" strike that killed people who survived the first strike. The Defense Secretary has denied being involved in the strike.
David Charter, the assistant editor of the U.S. Times, discussed the strike during a new interview on Times Radio.
"Is there anyone who's going to bring America to book for this?" host and political journalist Adam Boulton asked Charter.
"Well, it doesn't look like um Donald Trump will, for example," Charter said. "He he seems to treat Hegseth a bit like a long-lost son."
Trump's relationship with Hegseth extends beyond politics. Trump was a regular guest on Hegseth's show on Fox News, "Fox and Friends," and experts have noted that Hegseth seemed to have been picked for the Defense Secretary job because of that relationship.
Charter also noted that Hegseth seems to be passing blame for the double-tap strike to oAdmiral Mitch Bradley, who recently told lawmakers that he ordered the second strike. Charter seemed skeptical of that explanation.
"So it does come back to him, this most inexperienced of war secretaries, former Fox News presenter who was in he was in the military but a very low level in the National Guard," Charter said. "Pardon the pun, but he does seem rather bulletproof under Trump."