War Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a meme invoking the children's book character "Franklin the Turtle" in relation to orders to strike drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.
The graphic includes "A Classic Franklin Story" at the top, with the title "Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists."
Franklin is usually shown wearing only a red baseball cap. He sometimes carries a small blue knapsack. His shell maintains the same brown-and-green pattern throughout the series.
The meme posted by Hegseth on Sunday shows Franklin in military-style garb, including a load-bearing vest and a helmet.
The most striking element is the shouldered and just-fired rocket-propelled grenade launcher, seemingly aimed at a boat some distance below the helicopter he is aboard.
Boats resembling U.S. military–targeted drug-smuggling craft appear below. One of them is exploding.
Hegseth added no text to the meme.
But he did tag U.S. Southern Command, the unified military command that oversees American defense operations, security cooperation, and regional partnerships in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
It is responsible for carrying out a series of Trump administration orders to target boats identified by U.S. intelligence forces as carrying illicit drugs heading for America.
President Donald Trump dismissed the allegation that Hegseth ordered a second strike to kill survivors after one of the Caribbean drug-boat strikes.
He told reporters Sunday night on Air Force One that he had no knowledge of such an action, adding that Hegseth said he did not even understand what people were referring to.
Trump said he would not have supported a second strike because the first operation was highly lethal and achieved its purpose.
The comments, highlighted in an X post that included White House media-scrum audio, reinforced Trump’s support for the War Department’s Operation Southern Spear strikes on drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean.
Leaders in Congress from both parties say oversight is required and that follow-up strikes on injured individuals could constitute war crimes if those survivors no longer posed a threat.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.