'Notable': Reporter flags evidence of Trump admin throwing one man under the bus
Pete Hegseth looks at Donald Trump during a dinner with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
December 06, 2025
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are throwing one man under the bus for the "double tap" order on a purported drug transport ship, according to a reporter Saturday.
MS NOW reporter Jake Traylor reported over the weekend about how Trump and Hegseth have both morphed their responses to the recent scandal in ways that point the finger at Admiral Frank M. "Mitch" Bradley, who the White House now says ordered the second strike, while claiming it was "well within his authority."
Traylor said he wanted to focus on Bradley "because it's notable that he'sthe one on the Hill defendingessentially this decision thatwas made by the Department of Defense and all in concurrencewith the White House, becauseearlier, back in September, itwas Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth who said that he wasthe one that administered thestrike. He was in the room forit. He said that he watched itlive."
But, Traylor noted, "Once it became confirmedthat there was a second strikethat caused so much controversy, then he backed off, saying hewasn't there for the secondstrike. He had other things togo to."
And Trump has done the same, according to the reporter.
"And Trump has shiftedmessaging, too. Earlier thisweek, Trump was asked if therewas a second strike, would thatbe a problem? He said he wouldnot have wanted to see a secondstrike. Then it is confirmedthat that happened. Now Trumpis saying, oh, it was onesingular attack. It wasn'tmultiple different strikes," Traylor said. "Both Hegseth and Trump havethen, since the confirmation of that second strikeon the boat, have shifted theblame to admiral Bradley."
He continued:
"Andnow we're seeing him kind ofbeing the one taking the blame,going on the Hill and having todefend the decision."