He also said the US\u2019s strikes on boats so far in the Caribbean had been \u201clawful under both US and international law\u201d.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.21 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Trump’s envoys Witkoff and Kushner to meet with Putin in Moscow<\/p>\n Donald Trump\u2019s top envoy, Steve Witkoff, is set to meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. He\u2019ll be joined by the president\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been integral in the ongoing negotiations with Russia. This comes after a Bloomberg report from last week included a leaked transcript between Witkoff and a senior Moscow official, about how Russia could curry favor with Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in Paris, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and France\u2019s president Emanuel Macron met today.<\/p>\n \u201cPeace must become truly durable. The war must end as soon as possible. Much now depends on the involvement of every leader,\u201d Zelenksyy wrote on social media following their closed-door discussion. \u201cWe will also be speaking with other leaders today,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n My colleague, Jakub Krupa, is covering the latest developments at our dedicated live blog below.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.35 EST<\/p>\n Trump invites families of national guard members shot in DC to the White House<\/p>\n After two members of the West Virginia national guard were shot in DC last week, the president has invited their families to the White House.<\/p>\n One soldier, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, was killed in the attack \u2013which took place the day before Thanksgiving. Her fellow service member, US air force staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Vigils across West Virginia have taken place in their memory.<\/p>\n \u201cI said: \u2018When you\u2019re ready, because that\u2019s a tough thing, come to the White House. We\u2019re going to honor Sarah,\u201d Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. \u201cAnd likewise with Andrew, recover or not.\u201d<\/p>\n My colleague, Marina Dunbar, reports that mourners came together over the weekend at Webster County high school in West Virginia to honor Beckstrom. Both she and Wolfe had been serving with the West Virginia national guard as part of Trump\u2019s federal initiative to support policing efforts<\/a> in DC.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Donald Trump is back in Washington today. As of now, he doesn\u2019t have any public events scheduled. At 4pm ET he\u2019ll sign congressional bills, but that\u2019s currently closed to the press.<\/p>\n We will, however, hear from White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, at 1pm ET. She\u2019s due to hold a briefing with reporters, and we\u2019ll be bringing you the latest as it happens.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Venezuela called the strikes ‘murder’<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly has accused the US of committing \u201cmurder\u201d with the strikes. It is one of the first acknowledgements by Venezuelan officials that their citizens have been targeted.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no declared war [between the US and Venezuela)] therefore this cannot be classified as anything but murder,\u201d Jorge Rodriguez, the National Assembly president, told a press conference on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery human being has the right to due process; no human being can be killed in a brutal manner.\u201d<\/p>\n Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro (right) speaks with National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez (centre) and vice president Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas last week. EPA\/MIGUEL GUTIERREZ Photograph: Miguel Guti\u00e9rrez\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a008.04 EST<\/p>\n Democrats’ responses to reported strike<\/p>\n Senator Mark Kelly: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a public hearing. We\u2019re going to put these folks under oath. And we\u2019re going to find out what happened. And then, there needs to be accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n He also told CNN: \u201cIf what has been reported is accurate, I have got serious concerns about anybody in that chain of command stepping over a line that they should never step over.\u201d<\/p>\n Senator Chris Van Hollen: \u201cI think it\u2019s very possible there was a war crime committee.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> And a quick reminder of the background to US strikes in these waters:<\/p>\n Since September, the US has expanded its naval presence in the region, carrying out strikes on what it says are drug-smuggling boats in waters off Venezuela<\/a> and Colombia.<\/p>\n More than 80 people have been killed according to the US Defence Department.<\/p>\n The US has said it is destroying boats bringing in harmful drugs, and thus its attacks are launched out of self-defence \u2013 a legal justification for military attacks under international laws of armed conflict.<\/p>\n But it has provided scant evidence of the alleged criminality of the boats, and has also declined to provide identification details of the people it has killed on board the boats.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly has accused the US of committing \u201cmurder\u201d with the strikes.<\/p>\n The UN\u2019s human rights chief Volker Turk has said there\u2019s \u201cstrong evidence\u201d such strikes constitute extrajudicial killings. He\u2019s been calling for Congress investigate.<\/p>\n The reports then from the weekend add another layer of suspected illegality. The Washington Post reports that the US navy on 2 September struck a drug-running vessel, killing some of the 11 on board in the first strike. After commanders saw on the live drone feed that there were still two survivors clinging to the wreck, they executed an order to strike again, to kill all those on board.<\/p>\n Follow-up strikes are forbidden under the rules of war and engagement, i.e. what is legal fighting between parties in a conflict.<\/p>\n Clauses in the the Geneva Conventions also forbid the targeting of wounded participants, saying that those participants should instead be shielded, rescued and if applicable, treated as prisoners of war with relevant rights.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.38 EST<\/p>\n Republican-led committees launching investigations<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a swift response from lawmakers following the reports. Republican-led committees overseeing the Pentagon have vowed to conduct \u201cvigorous oversight\u201d into the boat strikes.<\/p>\n Senate Armed Services Committee:\u201cHas directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances\u201d.<\/p>\n House Armed Services Committee: \u201cIs taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question\u201d.<\/p>\n And lawmakers on both sides, speaking on talk shows on Sunday, called for congressional review.<\/p>\n \u201cThis rises to the level of a war crime if it\u2019s true,\u201d said Democrat Senator Tim Kaine on CBS\u2019s Face the Nation programme.<\/p>\n Republican lawmaker Mike Turner said Congress did not know yet if the report of the follow-up strike was true.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act,\u201d said Turner, a former chairman of the Intelligence Committee.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.20 EST<\/p>\n Trump ‘wouldn’t have wanted’ second strike on Caribbean boat<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Air Force One yesterday, the president defended Hegseth, saying he believed his statement \u201c100%\u201d that he hadn\u2019t ordered the second strike.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to find out about it, but Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if he would have wanted a second attempt to kill the survivors, the president said:<\/p>\n We\u2019ll look into it, but no, I wouldn\u2019t have wanted that \u2013 not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal.\u201d<\/p>\n The Washington Post reported that Hegseth \u201cgave a spoken directive\u201d to \u201ckill everybody\u201d on board in September. When there were still two men left after the first strike, a Special Operations commander ordered the follow-up to comply with Hegseth\u2019s direction, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n Hegseth has strongly denied the report,<\/a> calling it \u201cfabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory\u201d.<\/p>\n He also said the US\u2019s strikes on boats so far in the Caribbean had been \u201clawful under both US and international law\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.21 EST<\/p>\n Trump backs Hegseth amid report of repeated strike on boat<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to our US politics<\/a> live blog.<\/p>\n We\u2019re straight back in the thick of it after Thanksgiving: lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are demanding answers from the Trump administration<\/a> after reports defense secretary Peter Hegseth ordered a double-tap strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat off the coast of Venezuela, killing two people on board who had survived the first blast.<\/p>\n The allegations, first reported in the Washington Post on Friday, have sparked calls from Congress for an immediate investigation.<\/p>\n Hegseth, who calls himself the secretary for war on X, has called it \u201cfake news\u201d and Donald Trump<\/a> says he believes him.<\/p>\n But Congress is alarmed. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers raised concerns at the weekend that if the reports were true, such attacks would be war crimes.<\/p>\n![\"Frances](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Frances_Mao.png\")
Frances Mao<\/p>\n