Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak to reporters following a closed news conference with all senators on U.S. military actions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, Dec. 16, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – U.S. senators left a closed-door meeting Tuesday with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio divided over the Trump administration’s attacks on suspected drug ships near Venezuela, particularly a follow-up attack in early September that killed two survivors clinging to wrecked boats.
Hegseth and Rubio gave the all-inclusive briefings to Senate and House lawmakers on Capitol Hill as the death toll from U.S. military strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Oceans has surpassed 90 and as U.S. Navy ships are stationed off the coast of Venezuela.
The controversy over the possibility of war crimes during the Sept. 2 follow-up attack that killed shipwrecked survivors gained attention after The Washington Post published details last month that cast doubt Hegseth’s orders.
Hegseth told reporters Tuesday that he briefed members on a “highly successful mission to combat designated terrorist organizations and cartels that have been bringing weapons – weapons, that is, drugs – to the American people and poisoning the American people for far too long. So we’re proud of what we’re doing.”
Democrats condemn edited video
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Hegseth had again refused to show unedited footage from a second attack on September 2 that killed two people who had survived the first attack, which Schumer called “deeply disturbing.”
“The administration came to this briefing empty-handed,” said Schumer, DN.Y.
“If they can’t be transparent here, how can you trust their transparency on all the other issues going on in the Caribbean? Every senator has the right to see it. There is no problem with (disclosing) sources and methods,” because senators will see it at the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, a secure area of the Capitol where sensitive information is generally shared.
Schumer added that an “appropriate version” of the video should be released to the public.
Senate Republicans downplayed Democrats’ clamorous concerns, citing former President Barack Obama’s numerous counterterrorism drone strikes in the Middle East.
“We’ve been using the same technology for 24 years and nothing has changed except the hemisphere,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.
Publication required
Hegseth told reporters that the unedited video would be shown Wednesday to members of the Senate and House Armed Services committees, along with Admiral Frank Bradley, the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command who oversaw the attacks.
Hegseth did not address why the department declined to show the unedited video to all 100 senators.
He said: “Of course we will not release a top secret, complete and unedited video of this to the public.”
Several Democratic senators have called for the video to be released.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he was told during the meeting that the video would not be released due to “concerns about classification.”
“It is difficult to reconcile the widespread, routine and timely release of detailed videos of each attack with the concern that releasing part of the video from the first attack would violate various classification concerns,” Coons said.
Coons added: “It is increasingly important that the Trump administration’s national security team increasingly respects and recognizes the role and power of Congress.”
He highlighted a provision in Congress’ annual defense authorization bill forces Hegseth to publish the video or lose 25% of your travel budget. The comprehensive defense bill is expected to be passed this week.
Death toll from boat attacks increases
US Southern Command posted a video Social media reported Monday night about the military’s recent attacks on three boats “operated by designated terrorist organizations in international waters” in the Eastern Pacific. According to the article, eight people were killed in the attacks.
President Donald Trump has officially promoted his military actions in the Caribbean as a fight against drug trafficking and overdose deaths in the United States, particularly from illegal fentanyl.
On Monday, Trump released one command declare the powerful synthetic opioid a “weapon of mass destruction.”
The smuggling routes for illegal fentanyl and the chemicals used to produce it run from China to Mexico to the United States and are highlighted as such in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports National Drug Threat Assessment 2025.
The administration has set several drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, including “Cartel de los Soles,” an alleged Venezuelan group led by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to the State Department.
Trump has hinted a land invasion of the South American country.
When asked by States Newsroom on Tuesday whether Hegseth addressed during the meeting what type of drugs were allegedly contained in the attacked boats, Mullin and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said cocaine.
“We’ve always heard it’s mostly cocaine. That doesn’t matter. It’s drugs,” Mullin said.
Sullivan said “it’s the same groups” that smuggle cocaine as those that smuggle fentanyl.
According to the National Drug Threat Assessment, cocaine combined with illicit fentanyl has become “an increasing public safety concern” over the past eight years.
Overall, all drug overdose deaths in the United States have declined in recent years, according to the assessment latest data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
