Defense Secretary Mistakes Franklin the Turtle for Deadly Drug Hunter

Photo by Christopher Politano on Unsplash

KEY POINTS

•Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted an image of Franklin the Turtle firing at drug boats near Venezuela on December 2, 2025.
•The children's publisher, Kids Can Press, condemned the unauthorized use of Franklin’s image, stressing his values of kindness and inclusivity.
•White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the strike, attributing command to a Navy admiral, not Hegseth.
•Pentagon representatives did not respond to press inquiries following the controversy.

On December 2, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched what appears to be Franklin the Turtle into a very un-Franklin-like military mission: shooting at Venezuelan drug boats. The iconic Canadian turtle, usually chilling in children's books promoting kindness and empathy thanks to Kids Can Press, was weaponized and unauthorized for this merciless role. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Navy admiral as the true strike commander, absolving Hegseth from calling the shots, but the publisher's Twitter sternly condemned this mashup of cartoon innocence and deadly force. Meanwhile, Pentagon reps ducked Axios’ calls like it was a Tommy gun. The moral? Don’t make turtles do Navy admiral jobs, especially not while armed.