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Senator Mullin Erupts Over Alleged Pentagon Order After Fatal Caribbean Strike

04:43 AM, 12/01/2025
Senator Mullin Erupts Over Alleged Pentagon Order After Fatal Caribbean Strike

Senator Markwayne Mullin

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin pushed back angrily when pressed about a report that a Sept. 2 missile strike near Trinidad killed 11 people and that unnamed sources described an alleged Pentagon directive to "kill everybody." The exchange unfolded during a televised interview in which the senator denied the account, blamed media reporting and defended the administration's use of lethal force against suspected traffickers.

What the report said

A report citing unnamed sources described a Sept. 2 operation in which two missiles hit a boat suspected of drug trafficking near Trinidad, killing 11 people. The report included a quote attributed to sources:

"The order was to kill everybody."
Those details prompted questions about whether U.S. forces followed lawful rules of engagement and whether internal legal counsel altered tactics in later operations.

Mullin's response

Mullin dismissed the account as "not true information," and accused reporters of making too much of an anonymous source. When the interviewer pressed him repeatedly to say the allegation was false, he pivoted to a separate incident in which survivors reportedly were not killed, arguing the two events were not comparable.

The interviewer asked whether a Pentagon lawyer advising that commanders "can't do that again" might explain the difference in outcomes. Mullin rejected that explanation, saying, "No, no. Absolutely not. And I don't know why we're spending so much time on this."

Mullin emphasized his view that the administration — which he described as committed to using lethal force against threats "home and abroad" — would only target people truly involved in criminal activity. He said there was no chance the 11 people killed were innocent, asking rhetorically, "Are we doubting that these drug dealers are actually drug dealers? We think they're just out there fishing?"

Broader argument and oversight

He framed the clashes with cartels as a form of war, arguing operations in international waters are justified because traffickers have "declared war" on U.S. streets. Mullin praised former President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for taking a firm approach against cartels.

The interviewer reminded Mullin that congressional Republicans had voted to investigate the Sept. 2 operation. Mullin said oversight is appropriate — "Oversight, and there's nothing wrong with oversight" — while the interviewer pushed back that oversight had not always been consistently exercised in recent months.

This exchange highlights continuing questions about the rules governing lethal operations, the role of Pentagon legal advice, and how lawmakers will pursue oversight of sensitive military and counter-narcotics actions abroad.

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Senator Mullin Erupts Over Alleged Pentagon Order After Fatal Caribbean Strike - CRBC News