One after another.

Those three words can describe how controversy-after-controversy continues to plague President Donald Trump’s second administration in its first year back in office.

On September 2, United States Special Operations Command leader Navy Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley ordered a “double tap” strike on an alleged Venezuelan “narco-terrorism” boat, killing nine. In a declassified video, two individuals who survived the first attack could be seen on the boat.

Shortly after, Bradley ordered a second strike on the vessel, killing the two survivors. Since then, at least 80 people have died from U.S. military strikes as a part of Operation Southern Spear, a series of offensive military strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean, according to BBC.

The second strike on the Venezuelan boat highlights the Trump administration’s continuous dodging of questions regarding political and military decisions.

On Dec. 3 Trump said that he would have “no problem” with the full footage of the strikes being released, according to NPR. As of this week, Trump denies making those comments, claiming that the decision to release the video is up to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The administration continues to demonstrate its inability to handle mistakes and inconsistencies.

In what should have been a carefully monitored and thoughtful decision, Hegseth seems to have haphazardly viewed the footage, claimed he saw no survivors, and moved onto his next task, which cost two lives and spawned international controversy.

“That thing was on fire and it exploded … you can’t see anything. This is called the fog of war,” Hegseth said in a cabinet meeting last week, according to BBC.

The “fog of war” is defined by The New York Times as a “realm of uncertainty,” attributed to Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz’s book “On War.” Though he never explicitly used the term “fog of war,” military experts have used similar terms over time to describe the process of learning information in the midst of battle.

In this ‘fog of war,’ the U.S. might have violated international law. Based on the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Geneva Conventions state that civilians wounded in intentional attacks should be helped and aided by the perpetrators of the attacks. Along with potential violations of international law, there is little to no evidence that drug paraphernalia was on the struck vessel.

Hegseth seems to create excuses to exonerate himself of any wrongdoing. Claiming that a physical fog of war — which was actually fog caused by the U.S. haphazardly striking a vessel — is far from actual war.

It is essential for our administration to not only collect proper evidence and intel before striking a potential threat, but to take accountability for mistakes to properly serve the public. In a time of division, bias and confusion, the White House staff must be able to communicate and align with one another to put its best foot forward for Americans.