New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- US President Donald Trump said today that he is certain Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not authorise a second strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean after the initial attack failed to kill everyone aboard.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said, "He said he did not say that, and I believe him 100%."

The Pentagon is under increasing scrutiny following a Washington Post report alleging that Pete Hegseth instructed forces to carry out a deadly strike on boats and explicitly required that everyone on board be killed. According to the report, this order resulted in a suspected second strike on 2 September targeting the damaged hull of a boat to kill two individuals who had ...