This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Some of Donald Trump's most alarming

ideas concern military force and the almost unlimited latitude he grants himself as

commander-in-chief. Trump has talked about using the military against protesters. In the 2020

election, there was the idea that troops might seize ballot boxes for a recount. This year, he's

deployed the National Guard into U.S. cities to assist ICE or to

reduce crime. And he's rebranded the Department of Defense as the Department of War. Now Trump

seems to be ramping up a conflict with Venezuela. He says of President Nicholas Maduro, his days are

numbered. This week, the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker said to be carrying

Venezuelan oil, and for months, the Navy has been striking and destroying alleged drugboats.

In particular, there's the matter of a second missile strike on one boat for the purpose

of killing the survivors of the first strike. Former military officials are saying that this is a war crime.

One of those sounding the warning is Leon Panetta. Over the course of a long career in government,

Leon Panetta was a lieutenant in the army, a congressman from California, and a White House chief of staff.

He directed the Central Intelligence Agency under Barack Obama,

and when he was nominated for Secretary of Defense in 2011,

the Senate confirmed Panetta by a unanimous vote, 100 to zero.

I spoke with Leon Panetta last week.

Secretary Panetta in September, the Navy struck a boat off the coast of Venezuela a second time.

Secretary Hegseth has claimed that Admiral Frank Bradley was actually the one to make the call on that second strike, and Bradley has not denied that.

But there's a feeling that Bradley is being scapegoated by Hegseth.

So how much responsibility does Hegsset bear in this instance? And is he trying to pass the buck?

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