War Secretary Pete Hegseth defiantly dismissed a report Friday alleging he ordered no survivors be left ahead of the first military strike on a drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September.

A Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) commander reportedly ordered a second airstrike on the speed boat carrying 11 “Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” on Sept. 2 after the first strike left two people clinging to the wreckage, according to the Washington Post.

The call for a second strike was allegedly given in response to a verbal order from Hegseth to “kill everybody,” the outlet reported.

“As usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland,” Hegseth wrote on X after the report dropped.

“As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes,’” the Pentagon chief continued. “The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people.

“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”

Echoing Hegseth, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson argued: “Every lethal kinetic strike against narco-terrorists is:1) Completely legal  2) Conducted against the operations of a Designated Terrorist Organization  3) In defense of vital U.S. national interests.”

President Trump shared footage of the Sept. 2 attack – the first of more than a dozen military strikes targeting suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific – showing only the first missile hitting the speed boat, and seemingly obliterating it.

The Washington Post claims a total of four missiles were fired at the boat: Two to kill the crewmember and two to sink the vessel.

JSOC reportedly explained to the White House and congressional lawmakers that multiple strikes were needed to remove potential navigational hazards to other ships.

A person who watched a live feed of the second lethal strike told the outlet that the public “would be horrified” if they saw the footage.

After the Sept. 2 strike, protocols were reportedly changed to emphasize rescuing survivors, according to the report.

“The Biden administration preferred the kid gloves approach, allowing millions of people — including dangerous cartels and unvetted Afghans — to flood our communities with drugs and violence,” Hegseth’s post continued. “The Trump administration has sealed the border and gone on offense against narco-terrorists.

“Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them.”

The war secretary argued that the strikes against suspected narcoterrorists, part of a campaign dubbed “Operation Southern Spear,” are “lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict — and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command.”

Democratic lawmakers vowed to investigate and prosecute anyone who gave “illegal orders” in response to the report.

“The idea that wreckage from one small boat in a vast ocean is a hazard to marine traffic is patently absurd, and killing survivors is blatantly illegal,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), wrote on X. “Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”

Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) warned Hegseth that he will be “held accountable for illegal orders you give.”

“This demands Congressional investigation, and the unredacted video of the strike and radio recordings of the orders given need to be shared with Congress and the American people immediately,” Vindman added.

Rep. Ted Lieu (R-Calif.) said “nothing” in the classified legal memo or military law being used to the justify the operation “authorizes a second kinetic strike against defenseless survivors.”

“If the reports are true, then a war crime was committed,” Lieu claimed. “Also, there is generally no statute of limitations for war crimes.”

The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.