The Trump administration is standing by its controversial campaign of targeting and killing the crews of small boats that are allegedly smuggling drugs from South America to the U.S. But in the face of charges that these strikes amount to execution without trial, the White House is sending a confusing message about who exactly gave each order to use deadly force .

The details matter as some in Congress suggest the orders are illegal and could leave servicemembers facing eventual prosecution.

In response to reports that the first of these incidents included a second round of strikes that killed two survivors on a burning boat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he authorized and watched the initial attacks but did not watch the second round.

"I watched that first strike

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