Hegseth defends boat strike; Putin rejects Trump peace plan

Video Description

In September, the U.S. military began striking boats suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean. Since then, questions about the legality of these strikes have swirled. Last week, The Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill everyone before a Sept. 2 attack, according to officials. The commander of the mission later made the decision to strike two survivors of the attack who had been clinging to the wreckage. Today on the politics roundtable, we’ll discuss the fallout, and why both Republicans and Democrats are increasing their scrutiny of Hegseth’s leadership at the Department of Defense. And, after brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October, President Trump hoped to do the same for Russia and Ukraine. But his efforts have fallen short. Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Matthew Choi, the co-anchor of our politics newsletter, The Early Brief, and White House reporter Michael Birnbaum. Today's episode was produced by Laura Benshoff, Josh Carroll, and Thomas Lu. It was mixed by Sean Carter. It was edited by Reena Flores. Thanks also to our politics editors. Subscribe to The Washington Post here: https://wapo.st/3LryRWZ. 00:00 Intro 01:29 Recap of what officials said Hegseth ordered in September 02:22 How boat strike decision intersects with the rules of war 03:44 Hegseth says Adm. Frank Bradley ordered second strike 05:11 Congress wants more information about the strikes 07:22 What President Donald Trump thinks about Hegseth 09:47 Signalgate recap and Hegseth put servicemen at risk 11:30 Trump and Venezuela 16:12 Trump sends envoys to meet Vladimir Putin 17:44 Russia rejects Trump’s peace plan 18:55 Why Ukraine-Russia peace failed 21:02 Why Israel-Hamas peace deal worked 22:30 Reasons to be skeptical of Trump’s peace plans 23:27 Reader Question 27:50 Credits