Hegseth defends boat strike; Putin rejects Trump peace plan

In September, the U.S. military began striking boats suspected of drug smuggling in the Caribbean. Since then, questions about the legality of these strikes have swirled. Last week, The Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill everyone before a Sept. 2 attack, according to officials. The commander of the mission later made the decision to strike two survivors of the attack who had been clinging to the wreckage. Today on the politics roundtable, we’ll discuss the fallout, and why both Republicans and Democrats are increasing their scrutiny of Hegseth’s leadership at the Department of Defense.

And, after brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October, President Trump hoped to do the same for Russia and Ukraine. But his efforts have fallen short.

Host Colby Itkowitz speaks with Matthew Choi, the co-anchor of our politics newsletter, The Early Brief, and White House reporter Michael Birnbaum.

Today's episode was produced by Laura Benshoff, Josh Carroll, and Thomas Lu. It was mixed by Sean Carter. It was edited by Reena Flores. Thanks also to our politics editors.

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