Pete Hegseth denies he gave orders to ‘kill everybody’ on alleged ‘narco-boat’

Defense secretary called reports about his role in strike as fake news' intended to discredit US military

The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has declared recent reporting that he may have illegally ordered all people to be killed in a military strike in the Caribbean as fake news" on Friday evening, adding that the series of strikes of people on boats had been lawful under both US and international law".

Hegseth lambasted reports about his role in the strike as fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland".