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Live updates: Trump calls his Cabinet to meet amid scrutiny over boat strikes

Dec 2, 2025, 5:48 AM

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from his Mar-a-Lago e...

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., to Joint Base Andrews, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump called his Cabinet to meet Tuesday morning as the administration insists that it was lawful for the U.S. military to kill survivors of its air strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in September. Experts in the military code say this was clearly illegal, but The White House said Monday that Navy Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley ordered the second strike and was “within his authority and the law.”

The military operation has come under bipartisan scrutiny, with lawmakers citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed survivors on the boat. Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers overseeing the military.

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Live updates: Trump calls his Cabinet to meet amid scrutiny over boat strikes