‘Remarkable!’ Jake Tapper Stunned By White House Confirming Boat Strike Report Pentagon Denied Just Days Ago

Jake Tapper marveled on Monday at just how much of the bombshell Washington Post report about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordering to kill everyone on an alleged drug smuggling boat was confirmed by the White House, after Hegseth, the Pentagon, and the White House communications director all dismissed it.

“The Pentagon is facing growing questions about the legality of that move and the campaign in general. Now, the concession comes following reporting from CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, as well as others at the Washington Post and the Intercept, that the U.S. carried out this double tap after the initial attack, which a source told CNN that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said needed to kill everyone on board. And we’re told that that first strike did not kill everyone on board,” Tapper began, adding:

So the second strike killed those survivors, even though, according to the Washington Post, they were, quote, “clinging to the smoldering wreck,” unquote, and posed no apparent threat to the United States. It’s a move—the double tap—that President Trump said yesterday he opposes. This is what White House Press Secretary Karoline Levitt said about that earlier today.

Tapper then showed a clip of Leavitt being asked about the strike earlier in the day.“Does the administration deny that that second strike happened, or did it happen and the administration denies that Secretary Hegseth gave the order?” asked a reporter as Leavitt replied, “The latter is true. To clarify, Admiral Bradley was the one who gave that order for a second strike, and he was well within his authority to do so.”

“Now, please note, the Trump administration went from the Pentagon spokesman claiming, quote, ‘The entire narrative is false. These people just fabricate anonymously sourced stories out of whole cloth. Fake news is the enemy of the people.’ He said that two days ago,” Tapper continued, adding:

Today, the White House confirmed the story: the Hegseth order, the September 2nd strike, the double tap. Remarkable! The White House’s acknowledgment of the double tap comes after Secretary Hegseth went on X and said that the stories were, quote, “fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory,” though neither he nor anyone at the Pentagon ever specified what, if anything, was inaccurate.

Hegseth also, believe it or not, posted this meme of a fake depiction of a children’s book showing gunboats targeting narco-traffickers, featuring the turtle Franklin dressed as a member of the military. Yes, this is an actual post from an actual Secretary of Defense, sharing a meme—presumably to own the libs—though the administration will not share the classified legal justification behind any of these lethal strikes being carried out in your name.

We should note the interesting timing of all this: several top flag officers prematurely left their posts in October after these strikes in the Caribbean began. Southcom Commander Admiral Alvin Holsey, who is in charge of the operations in the Caribbean, announced he’s retiring from his post only one year into his tenure. CNN reported at the time that, quote, “Southcom was concerned about these Caribbean operations not being lawful,” per sources.

Others were quick to point out as well how the White House had actually confirmed most of the Post’s story, despite the Pentagon’s denials.

Watch above via CNN.