TV News LIES

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said late Saturday that U.S. forces struck an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean and killed three after a string of similar strikes in the region in recent weeks.

“Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Caribbean,” Hegseth said in a post on the social platform X.

“Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters,” Hegseth continued. “All three terrorists were killed, and no U.S. forceshttps://thehill.com/policy/defense/5585410-us-forces-strike-drug-vessel-hegseth/ were harmed in this strike.”

Saturday’s strike is the latest in a series of U.S. military efforts targeting alleged narcotrafficking in the Caribbean Sea.

Since early September, the Trump administration has directed the Defense Department to carry out strikes against alleged drug smuggling, killing upward of 64 people in international waters. There have also been strikes in the East Pacific.

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The Pentagon has given the White House the green light to provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles after assessing that it would not negatively impact US stockpiles, leaving the final political decision in President Donald Trump’s hands, according to three US and European officials familiar with the matter.

Trump said earlier this month during a working lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House that he would rather not provide the missiles to Ukraine because “we don’t want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country.”

The Joint Staff informed the White House of its assessment earlier this month, just before Trump met with Zelensky who has been pushing for the missiles to more effectively target oil and energy facilities deep inside Russia. Tomahawks have a range of around 1,000 miles.

The assessment buoyed the US’ European allies, who believe that the US now has fewer excuses not to provide the missiles, two European officials said. Trump also said just days before meeting Zelensky that the US has “a lot of Tomahawks” that it could potentially give to Ukraine.

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A three-star general who worked on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Staff,, is retiring from the role after reported friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine. 

“General McGee is retiring, and the War Department is grateful for his service,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed Thursday in a statement to The Hill.

McGee, who retired from his post earlier this month, was the director for strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Staff, advising Caine on long-term military strategy. 

McGee objected to Hegseth and Caine on a range of issues, including the Trump administration’s strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the Russia-Ukraine war, according to CNN, which first reported on McGee’s departure.

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National guard troops sent to the nation’s capital will reportedly remain there through at least February.

The order was set to lapse at the end of November but was extended by Pete Hegseth, who leads the US Department of Defense. As of Wednesday, there are nearly 2,400 national guard troops in Washington DC, according to CNN. The network also notes that their presence costs about $1m daily.

This extension comes just a month after Washington DC officials sued the Trump administration over the deployments, which Brian Schwalb, the District of Columbia attorney general, described as “involuntary military occupation” and an illegal use of the military for domestic law enforcement.

A federal judge in California ruled in September that Trump’s deployment of national guard troops to Los Angeles after days of protests over immigration raids in June had been illegal. That ruling, however, does not directly apply to Washington, where the president has more control over the guard than in states.

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The Trump administration remains barred from deploying the national guard in Portland, Oregon, following a federal appeals court ruling.

The ninth circuit court of appeals agreed on Tuesday that it would rehear a case over the president’s authority with a broader court of 11 judges. The appeals court also vacated a ruling from a three-judge panel last week that sided with the Trump administration.

The order is the latest development in a long legal saga over whether Donald Trump has the authority and justification to deploy national guard forces in Portland. The Oregon city has had about 200 federalized guard members in limbo since late September when Trump attempted to mobilize in response to months of protests there.

The federal government has argued that federal officials working at the ICE facility in south Portland were under attack, while city and state officials argue that local officers have control of the situation.

In defiance of Trump’s characterization of Portland as “war ravaged”, locals have been sharing videos of the city’s lush hiking trails and thriving food scene, and drawing up plans for Emergency Naked Bike Ride against “the militarization of our city”.

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The Pentagon has pulled key protections for its civilian personnel, directing managers to move with “speed and conviction” to fire underperforming workers, according to a memo issued one day before the U.S. government shut down.

“Supervisors and human resources (HR) professionals are directed to act with speed and conviction to facilitate the separation from Federal service of employees performing unsuccessfully,” states a Sept. 30 memo signed by the Pentagon’s top personnel policy officer, Under Secretary of Defense Anthony Tata.

It also warns that managers will be held accountable if they don’t address “poor employee performance.”

The new guidelines, which became public Tuesday, have sparked fears that they could be used to push out anyone at the Pentagon who doesn’t agree with or toe the line on the Trump administration’s programs.

It’s unclear how many employees may have been fired since the memo took effect. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

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