Shoot first and ask questions later.
When Elon Musk went in all gangbusters cutting government willy nilly from January 20th, he was immediately challenged about his authority and the nature of his position until the Trump administration retroactively made him a special government employee on February 3rd. But Musk still controversially operated with unprecedented authority over all of government even though he never submitted to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, which is standard for all high-ranking federal appointees. His rogue status was never adjudicated.
The retroactive appointment is called covering your ass.
The same thing has happened now with the drug boat controversy, twice.
After the first drug boat attack caused an uproar, Trump made up some shit to justify it weeks later, indicating he knew what they were doing was wrong:
... In the weeks following the attack, President Trump, 79, attempted to retroactively insulate those responsible from legal consequences by informing Congress that the U.S. was in a “non-international armed conflict” with “designated terrorist organizations,” and therefore those who killed suspected narcotics traffickers would be exempt from criminal prosecution. ...
Similarly, someone changed the protocol for attacks after the September 2nd incident because they knew killing survivors was wrong. They just hoped we didn't find out that's what they did that day:
The protocol for future suspected drug boat strikes was altered after the Sept. 2 attack, and the military was instructed to detain any survivors.
This is Trump Amateur Hour 2.0. They don't know what they are doing. It would be amusing but for the bodies left in their wake.
More.
