Trump Administration Faces Scrutiny Over Venezuela Strikes and Expanding Military Campaign
The Trump administration is intensifying its pressure campaign against Venezuela, prompting a White House meeting scheduled for Monday evening to discuss next steps, as legal questions mount regarding recent military actions.
The meeting, expected to take place at 5 p.m. ET in the Oval Office, will include key Cabinet members and national security officials, such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, alongside White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
The United States has recently increased its military presence in the Caribbean, conducting strikes on alleged drug vessels and amassing a significant military asset buildup. The Pentagon has labeled this operation “Operation Southern Spear,” deploying over a dozen warships and 15,000 troops to the region. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Monday that the President was “meeting with his national security team on this subject and on many matters,” emphasizing his commitment to “ensure that peace is ongoing throughout the world.”
However, the administration is simultaneously confronting growing concerns about the legality of the strikes against suspected drug boats, which reportedly resulted in over 80 fatalities. The US has not declared war on Venezuela, yet lawmakers from both parties are demanding a thorough examination of reports alleging a follow-up strike targeting survivors.
“The law is clear,” asserted Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent, on Monday morning. “If the facts are, as have been alleged, that there was a second strike specifically to kill the survivors in the water — that’s a stone-cold war crime. It’s also murder.”
On Monday, Leavitt identified Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, commander of the US Special Operations Command, as the official who authorized the follow-up strike, claiming he was operating “well within his authority.”
According to Leavitt, “On September 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Adm. Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Adm. 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.”
When pressed for legal justification, Leavitt maintained the strike was “conducted in self-defense to protect Americans” and occurred “in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict.” Secretary Hegseth publicly voiced his support for Bradley, stating on X, “Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since.”
However, President Trump appeared to cast doubt on the narrative surrounding the second strike, telling reporters Sunday evening, “No. 1, I don’t know that that happened, and Pete said he did not want them — he didn’t even know what people were talking about. So, we’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike.”
Leavitt indicated that Hegseth had engaged with concerned lawmakers, but did not specify which ones. She defended the administration’s transparency, noting that “There have also been 13 bipartisan briefings to Congress on the Venezuelan strikes. There have been a number of document reviews for members of Congress to review the classified DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion and other related documents.”
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated he and Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton are actively involved in the issue and anticipate a conversation with Adm. Bradley this week. “We’ve got to get to the bottom this,” he said, also calling for the release of an unedited video of the strike to determine “whether these individuals were in the water, on the boat, still combatants or not.”
Sen. King, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, indicated that Congress intends to interview individuals throughout the chain of command. “The question is, what order did the secretary of defense give and how was that executed? And we’re going to be talking to people, as I say, all the way up, up to the top of the chain of command and down to the people that actually triggered that attack,” he explained.
The administration has signaled no intention of slowing down its activities in the region. Last week, the President announced plans to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking by land, in addition to sea, “very soon.” Over the weekend, he issued a directive on social media warning airlines, pilots, and criminal networks to avoid Venezuelan airspace, though he later downplayed the significance of the announcement.
Furthermore, the President confirmed a recent phone conversation with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, without disclosing the details. The administration last week designated Maduro and his allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization, a move officials claim will broaden the US’s military options within Venezuela.
The administration’s decision to potentially pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, despite his US drug-trafficking conviction, has drawn criticism from some, including GOP Rep. Maria Salazar. “I would have never done that,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash, arguing it sends a conflicting message amid the escalating campaign against Maduro.
Leavitt defended the potential pardon, attributing the former Honduran president’s conviction to “over-prosecution” during the Biden administration. “President Trump has been quite clear in his defense of the United States homeland, to stop these illegal narcotics from coming to our borders, whether that’s by land or by sea,” Leavitt said. “He’s also made it quite clear that he wants to correct the wrongs of the weaponized Justice Department under the previous administration.”
The situation remains fluid, with ongoing scrutiny from Congress and international observers as the Trump administration navigates a complex and potentially escalating situation in Venezuela.
