'Throwing Hegseth under the bus?' Trump statement on 'second strike' raises eyebrows

President Donald Trump seemingly distanced himself from the latest controversy surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The self-styled secretary of war reportedly ordered a second missile strike on two alleged smugglers who survived an attack on a boat administration officials say was carrying drugs from Venezuela to the U.S., and many military and legal experts say Hegseth's "no quarter" order violated international and U.S. laws.

"I don’t know that that happened and Pete said he did not want them, even know what people were talking about, so we'll look in –we'll look into it," Trump told reporters. "But no, I wouldn’t have wanted a second strike. The first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around, but Pete said that didn't happen. I have great confidence."

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, joined with Democratic lawmakers in condemning Hegseth's alleged "kill everyone" follow-on order as illegal, and social media users highlighted Trump's comments as a significant break from his frequently embattled Pentagon chief.

"Pete Hegseth, you in danger, girl," warned X user Keith Edwards.

"Trump beginning the process of throwing Hegseth under the bus," noted former Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus.

"Translation: Pete may well go down for this. But I’m not going with him," agreed civil rights lawyer Sherilynn Ifill.

"President Trump says he would not have wanted the second strike," said Just Security's Ryan Goodman. "POTUS's only defense of Hegseth is claim that Hegseth supposedly said he didn't order it."

"Unless Trump gave the operational order for the second strike he can underbus Hegseth and still do whatever war he’s doing, the principle is not 'we’re not at war' it’s 'you can’t do this in war,'" argued post malone ergo propter malone.

"Interesting. So even Trump is saying a second strike would be wrong," opined Marine veteran Stan R. Mitchell. "Hegseth better hope the facts are on his side here."

"This is a major development and Hegseth just got hung out to dry," posted widely followed Blueskey user Chele Lea. "Trump said he didn’t want nor order the second strike on that Venezuelan boat. That’s HUGE. That’s Trump saying Hegseth acted alone. Trump always protects Trump his entire cabinet just got a wake-up call. Smart of Trump’s handlers."