Hegseth Defends Drug Boat Strikes as Trump Pardons Ex-Honduran President

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the controversial back-to-back strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in September. During a cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Trump said he had no knowledge of the follow-up strikes or whether they targeted survivors. The comments come after lawmakers opened an investigation into the administration’s counterdrug campaign off the coast of Venezuela. Meanwhile, the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was released from federal prison Monday after receiving a presidential pardon from Trump. Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in prison in 2024, accused of accepting bribes and helping to traffic roughly 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Read more at LATimes.com.