President Trump said he believes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's denial of a report alleging he ordered military forces to leave no survivors in a strike on a suspected drug trafficking boat from Venezuela.

The big picture: The U.S. has ramped up its military pressure on Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro despite legal experts and lawmakers sounding the alarm over the legality of the strikes on alleged drug traffickers that have killed dozens. • Hegseth slammed The Washington Post's report that he directed military officials to kill everyone aboard a vessel, which allegedly resulted in a second strike to take out two survivors. The Intercept also previously reported on the follow-up attack. • He dismissed the allegations as "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory" on X but said

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