![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/president-donald-trump-waves-as-he-and-first-lady-melania-tr-D3W4D3TDXRHD7LAQUKZVN4ZJ6Y.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted \u201cwithin his authority and the law\u201d when he ordered a second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in a September US military operation that has come under bipartisan scrutiny.<\/p>\n
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered the justification for the September 2 strike after lawmakers from both parties on Sunday (local time) announced support for congressional reviews of US military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed survivors on the boat in that incident.<\/p>\n
Leavitt in her comments to reporters did not dispute a Washington Post report that there were survivors after the initial strike in the incident. Her explanation came after President Donald Trump a day earlier said that he \u201cwouldn\u2019t have wanted that \u2014 not a second strike\u201d when asked about the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecretary Hegseth authorised Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,\u201d said Leavitt, referring to US Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley, who at the time was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command. \u201cAdmiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week\u2019s Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical. Still, they said the reports of attacking survivors of an initial missile strike posed serious legal concerns and merited further scrutiny.<\/p>\n
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it\u2019s true,\u201d said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.<\/p>\n
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no longer able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n
Trump on Sunday (local time) vigorously defended Hegseth.<\/p>\n
\u201cPete said he did not order the death of those two men,\u201d Trump said. He added, \u201cAnd I believe him\u201d.<\/p>\n
Leavitt said Hegseth has spoken with members of Congress who may have expressed some concerns about the reports over the weekend.<\/p>\n
After the Post\u2019s report, Hegseth said Friday (local time) on X that \u201cfake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict\u2014and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,\u201d Hegseth wrote.<\/p>\n
Leavitt also confirmed that Trump later on Monday would be holding a meeting with his national security team to discuss the ongoing operations in the Caribbean Sea and potential next steps against Venezuela.<\/p>\n
The US administration says the strikes in the Caribbean are aimed at drug cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Trump also is weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump waves as he and first lady Melania Trump arrive on Air Force One, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Trump on Sunday (local time) confirmed that he had recently spoken by phone with Maduro but declined to detail the conversation.<\/p>\n
The September strike was one in a series carried out by the US military in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as Trump has ordered the build up a fleet of warships near Venezuela, including the largest US aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n
More than 80 have been killed the strikes on small boats that the Trump administration alleges smuggle narcotics for drug cartels.<\/p>\n
Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly has announced the launch of an investigation into the lethal strikes carried about by the US<\/p>\n
Sunday’s (local time) announcement by the Assembly\u2019s president, Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, marked the first time that a Maduro government official explicitly acknowledged that Venezuelans have been killed in the monthslong US military operation.<\/p>\n
Rodr\u00edguez, Maduro\u2019s chief negotiator, said a group of lawmakers will come together to investigate \u201cthe serious events that led to the murder of Venezuelans in the waters of the Caribbean Sea\u201d.<\/p>\n
Today’s news in 90 seconds, including councils kicking back at the Government’s rates cap, a clue in the Hong Kong apartment blaze investigation and Kane Williamson’s return. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted \u201cwithin his authority and the law\u201d when he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":["post-164806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}