Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s defiant, almost mocking response to a damning report on an alleged illegal boat strike has ignited a public firestorm — and experts now warn that if the allegations hold, even President Donald Trump cannot protect him from the legal consequences barreling toward him.

The uproar only intensified after new reporting revealed that Hegseth allegedly ordered U.S. forces to kill all 11 occupants of what the White House has maintained was a suspected drug-smuggling boat — a directive that stunned officials and has since drawn accusations of outright criminality.

According to the Washington Post, the order was not issued through formal channels but delivered verbally and without ambiguity: “The order was to kill everybody,” two people with direct knowledge of the

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