House Speaker Mike Johnson this week defended the Department of War and its execution of a second strike on a drug boat that killed the survivors of the first attack.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has faced significant pushback from media, Democrats, and libertarians over his assaults on the suspected drug boats operating out of Venezuela. Johnson, for his part, defended Hegseth from the criticism.

“Narco terrorists were caught in the process of smuggling deadly drugs and throughout the United States," he told reporters, according to Politico. "The individuals on that vessel were not helpless castaways. They were drug runners on a capsized drug boat and by all indications, attempting to recover it so they could continue pushing drugs to kill Americans.”

The Trump administration has attempted to ramp up pressure on Caracas in recent months and Trump has even floated the prospect of strikes on Venezuelan territory against the drug cartels operating in the country.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.