唐纳德·特朗普总统在最初他说“没问题”随着9月2日在加勒比海对一艘涉嫌贩毒船只的袭击造成两名幸存者死亡的视频的发布，现在正在改变方向，听从国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的意见。
“我没这么说，”特朗普周一被美国广播公司新闻部高级政治记者雷切尔·斯科特(Rachel Scott)追问他12月3日的评论时声称。
特朗普周一表示:“无论海格塞斯想做什么，我都没问题。”
在一个政治访谈录周二早上发表的特朗普在被问及他是否认为有必要对幸存者进行第二次打击时，进一步远离了这场争议。
“嗯，看起来他们想把船翻回来。但我不参与其中。这取决于他们，”特朗普说。
尽管上周，五角大楼新闻秘书金斯利·威尔逊谈到了特朗普和黑格斯对罢工的责任。
12月2日，威尔逊在五角大楼的一次简报会上告诉记者，“归根结底，总统和部长是指挥这些打击的人，布拉德利指挥的任何后续打击，部长都百分之百同意。”
12月3日，美国广播公司驻白宫高级记者Selina Wang在椭圆形办公室问总统，“你会发布那次袭击的视频吗——这样美国人民就可以亲眼看到了?”
特朗普回应说，“我不知道他们有什么，但不管他们有什么，我们肯定不会发布任何问题。”
一些参议院共和党人人周二表示，他们希望看到向公众发布9月2日罢工的完整视频。
“我们必须公布这段视频。听着，我们得把Epstein的文件公开。共和党参议员托姆·蒂利斯说:“我们必须获得任何不以任何方式损害任务完整性的视频。”。“把东西拿出去。”
共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)没有那么强硬，但表示“可以接受它被发布。”
共和党参议员乔希·霍利(Josh Hawley)也表示，他认为“公众看到它会有所帮助”，以缓解对视频内容不同说法的担忧。
"...霍利说:“国防部长没有征求我的意见，但我的意见是，采取一切必要措施来编辑任何真正敏感的东西。”。“但除此之外，我认为美国人民希望看到它。”
官员们已经证实，9月2日对涉嫌贩毒的船只进行了四次军事打击，第一次袭击造成船上11人中的9人死亡。大约40分钟后，第二次袭击被下令杀死两名幸存者。官员们说，另外两次攻击是为了击沉船只。
一些民主党人和法律专家认为，杀害幸存者可能构成战争罪。
海格塞斯是谁周二前往国会山与国务卿马尔科·卢比奥和参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩就国家安全事务向“八人帮”做简报，还没有承诺发布这次袭击的录像。国防部长表示担心公开视频可能会暴露需要保护的来源或方法。
赫格塞斯还暗示，遇难的幸存者构成了迫在眉睫的威胁。
众议院军事委员会(House Armed Services Committee)最高民主党众议员亚当·史密斯(Adam Smith)看过罢工视频，反驳了黑格斯和其他共和党人提供的描述。
史密斯在出席美国广播公司的“本周”周日，称该视频“令人深感不安”，并表示“这两名幸存者似乎没有任何立场继续战斗。”
国会议员正试图通过新的立法迫使Hegseth向立法者提供未经编辑的罢工录像。
蒂利斯周二表示，公布这段视频将消除视频描述的差异。
“每个人都在努力思考里面有什么。这就是为什么把视频公布出来如此重要，这样我们就可以客观地自己看一看。我只是认为我们必须尽可能透明，”他说。
川普在接受政治采访时被问及黑格斯是否应该就9月2日的罢工宣誓作证。
“我不在乎他做什么。他想的话可以。我不在乎，”特朗普说。他补充说，他相信海格塞斯“做得很好”
9月2日的船只罢工是政府对贩毒集团“战争”的一部分。在加勒比海和东太平洋发生了20多起针对船只的军事袭击，造成80多人死亡。
Trump backtracks on releasing boat strike video, distances himself from controversy
President Donald Trump, afterinitially saying he had "no problem"with releasing the video of the Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea that killed two survivors, is now reversing course and deferring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
"I didn't say that," Trump claimed when pressed on Monday by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott about his Dec. 3 comments.
"Whatever Hegseth wants to do is OK with me," Trump said on Monday.
In aninterview with Politicopublished on Tuesday morning, Trump further distanced himself from the controversy when asked if he believed the second strike on the survivors was necessary.
"Well, it looked like they were trying to turn back over the boat. But I don't get involved in that. That's up to them," Trump said.
Though last week, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson spoke about Trump and Hegseth's responsibility for the strike.
"At the end of the day, the president and the secretary are the ones directing these strikes, and any follow-up strikes that were directed by Adm. Bradley, the secretary 100% agrees with," Wilson told reporters at a briefing at the Pentagon on Dec. 2.
ABC Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang asked the president in the Oval Office on Dec. 3, "Will you release video of that strike -- so that the American people can see for themselves?"
Trump responded, "I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release no problem."
A number of Senate Republicans said on Tuesday that they'd like to see the full video of the Sept. 2 strike released to the public.
"We’ve got to release the video. Look, we have got to get the Epstein files released. We've got to get any videos that do not in any way compromise mission integrity out there," Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said."Just get the stuff out there."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was less forceful, but said was "OK with it being released."
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley also said he believed it would be "helpful for the public to see it" to ease concerns about varying accounts of what the video shows.
"... The [defense] secretary hasn't asked for my opinion, but my opinion would be, take whatever steps you need to redact whatever is truly sensitive," Hawley said. "But otherwise, I think the American people would like to see it."
Officials have confirmed there were four military strikes against the alleged drug boat on Sept. 2, the first strike killing nine of the 11 people aboard. About 40 minutes later, a second strike was ordered to kill the two survivors. Two additional strikes were ordered to sink the boat, officials said.
Some Democrats and legal experts have suggested that the killing of survivors could constitute a war crime.
Hegseth, who washeading to Capitol Hill on Tuesdaywith Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine to brief the "Gang of Eight" on national security matters, has not committed to releasing the video of the strike. The defense secretary cited concerns that releasing the video could expose sources or methods that would need to be protected.
Hegseth also has suggested the survivors killed posed an imminent threat.
Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee who has seen the video of the strike, pushed back on the description provided by Hegseth and other Republicans.
Smith, during an appearance onABC's "This Week"on Sunday, called the video "deeply disturbing" and said "it did not appear that these two survivors were in any position to continue the fight."
Members of Congress are attempting topass new legislationto force Hegseth to provide lawmakers the unedited footage of the strike.
Tillis said on Tuesday that releasing the video would clear up discrepancies about what it depicts.
"Everybody's trying to think about what's in it. That's why it's so important to get the videos out there so we can objectively take a look at it ourselves. I just think we have to be as transparent as possible," he said.
Trump was asked in the interview with Politico if Hegseth should testify under oath about the Sept. 2 strike.
"I don't care if he does. He can if he wants. I don't care," Trump said. He added that he believes Hegseth is "doing a great job."
The Sept. 2 boat strike is part of what the administration has called its "war" on drug cartels. There have been more than 20 military strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
