Live updates: Trump to meet with national security team as questions grow over September boat strike

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President Donald Trump will meet with his national security team Monday afternoon as bipartisan scrutiny mounted over a report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order in September to strike an alleged drug vessel a second time to kill any survivors.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have opened investigations into U.S. military strikes suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Democrats have said that the allegations first reported by The Washington Post last week could amount to a war crime. Republicans have also voiced their concerns about the legality of the Sept. 2 attack in the Caribbean.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said the second strike was carried “in self-defense and “in accordance” with laws governing armed conflict.

The U.S. administration says the strikes are aimed at cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump, who is also weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland, confirmed Sunday that he had recently spoken with Maduro.

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Republican Sen. Roger Wicker says he wants vigorous oversight following a report that top military officials ordered an attack on survivors of a boat strike.

“We’ll find out the ground truth,” he said, adding that the ramifications of the report were “serious charges.”

Wicker added that he expected a briefing from U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley, who was overseeing the operation, but avoided saying whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be called to testify.

The U.S. military would have committed a crime if it killed the survivors of an alleged drug boat after it was first attacked, legal experts say.

It doesn’t matter whether the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels as the Trump administration asserts. Such a fatal strike would have violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict, the experts say.

“I can’t imagine anyone, no matter what the circumstance, believing it is appropriate to kill people who are clinging to a boat in the water,” said Michael Schmitt, a professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval War College.

The White House confirmed Monday that a second strike was conducted in September against a vessel accused of trafficking drugs off Venezuela and insisted it was legal.

The Louisiana senator, who is emphasizing his ties to Trump ahead of a tough primary, posted a video touting the president’s signature on a Senate bill.

“It’s all about making America healthy again,” Cassidy says in the video, taken from a car. The SUPPORT Act is meant to boost programs that treat substance use disorders, overdoses, and mental health.

Cassidy posted earlier today that he was invited to the White House for the bill signing. Trump has not made an endorsement in the 2026 Senate race in Louisiana, where Cassidy is up for reelection. Cassidy — highlighting what he’s previously called a “great working relationship” with Trump — drew multiple challengers from his own party after voting to convict Trump on an article of impeachment.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the Defense secretary childish and insecure, and said Hegseth’s social media post of a cartoon turtle firing on suspected drug traffickers is “something no serious leader would ever think of doing.”

Schumer said the Armed Services committees conducting oversight should demand that Hegseth release the video of the strike and testify under oath about what happened.

Sen. John Thune says he’s glad the Armed Services committees in Congress will be conducting oversight of the boat strikes on alleged drug traffickers that critics have described as war crimes.

“I don’t have, at this point, an evaluation of the secretary,” Thune told reporters. “Others can make those evaluations.”

He said he expects the committee to look into “what happened when and what orders were given.”

“I don’t think you want to draw any conclusions or deductions until you have all the facts,” Thune told reporters. “We’ll see where they lead.”

In a video of the party posted online by White House aide Margo Martin, Trump noted that he spoke to the parents of U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, who was killed in last week's shooting in Washington.

“Her parents couldn’t believe it, what happened to their baby, what happened to their daughter,” Trump said Monday. “She’s gone.” He said another National Guard member — U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, whom Trump called “a fabulous young man” — was “fighting for his life.”

“Maybe he’ll be OK, he’s going through a lot,” Trump said. “Maybe he’ll be OK.”

The press was not invited into the Christmas gathering, which an aide said was the first one at the White House this year.

“We have a little more than three years left, and three years for Trump is an eternity,” Trump said to applause and laughter, according to the video posted by Martin.

Facing a Pentagon investigation after President Donald Trump accused him of sedition “punishable by DEATH,” Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is showing little interest in backing down.

“For most of Donald Trump’s career, bullying people has worked out for him. But not now, because I won’t let it happen,” Kelly told reporters Monday.

The Pentagon launched its inquiry last week after Kelly appeared in a video with other Democratic lawmakers urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders.” Kelly, viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, has stayed in the spotlight since by directly challenging the president.

“President Trump has crossed the line, and this time it’s not going to work. I will not be intimidated by this president,” Kelly said.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held the weekend call following reports that the military conducted a second strike in September on the survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat.

Caine spoke with the four bipartisan lawmakers leading the Senate and House Armed Services Committees “to share perspectives on ongoing operations” and reiterate “his trust and confidence in the experienced commanders at every echelon,” Caine’s office said.

The committees have opened reviews following the report.

The call focused on “addressing the intent and legality of missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks which threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere,” the statement said.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said three of his New York offices received emailed bomb threats from an email address alleging the “2020 election was rigged.”

Schumer said in a statement that local law enforcement received bomb threats referencing his offices in Rochester, Binghamton and Long Island with the email subject line “MAGA.”

“Local and federal law enforcement responded immediately and are conducting full security sweeps,” Schumer said. “Everyone is safe, and I am grateful for their quick and professional response to ensure these offices remain safe and secure for all New Yorkers.”

▶ Read more about the threats

The French president spoke with Trump by phone after he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Monday.

Trump and Macron “discussed the conditions for a robust and lasting peace in Ukraine and the next steps in the mediation efforts undertaken by the United States,” according to a French government statement. “The President of the Republic notably underscored the central importance of the security guarantees required for Ukraine and our determination to work on them together with the United States.”

Ukraine’s president spoke optimistically Monday about the progress of revising the Trump administration’s peace plan, saying “it looks better” and the work will continue during talks on how to end Russia’s nearly four-year war.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials held talks in Florida about the U.S. proposal.

Sean Barbabella said in a statement that Trump’s physical exam included “advanced imaging” that is “standard for an executive physical” in Trump’s age group.

Barbabella concluded that the cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was “perfectly normal.”

Leavitt said the meeting will take place Monday afternoon, and that strikes against suspected drug vessels off Venezuela -- as well as other topics -- will be discussed.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said a second strike was conducted against an alleged drug vessel off Venezuela on Sept. 2 “in self-defense and “in accordance” with laws governing armed conflict.

“The president has the right to take them out,” Leavitt said of alleged drug vessels, if they are “threatening the United States of America.”

Leavitt’s comments came after reports that defense officials gave a verbal order to leave no survivors after a first U.S. strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2 left survivors.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the pre-Thanksgiving shooting of two National Guard members in Washington shows it is “more important than ever to finish carrying out the president’s mass deportation operation.”

She said the Trump administration is “ensuring the monster responsible for this atrocity” is held accountable, and reckoning with what made the attack possible — including scrutinizing past immigration decisions involving Afghans and other migrants.

Leavitt blamed what she called Biden’s “historic failure in Afghanistan” and said it “continues to haunt this country and our men and women in uniform.”

The troops were already set to go to the nation’s capital before last week’s shooting that killed one National Guard member and wounded another from West Virginia, Gov. Henry McMaster said.

The Republican governor said there are no plans to increase the number of soldiers after President Donald Trump requested 500 more National Guard troops following last week’s shooting.

The governor noted South Carolina has also sent National Guard troops to the Mexican border and other places in the world.

“We’ll keep sending them, and they are willing to go and capable of going,” McMaster told reporters Monday.

The South Carolina troops will replace soldiers from Georgia. They were the replacements for the first round of South Carolina soldiers in Washington who returned home in September.

The wives of the president and vice president spoke briefly to the roughly 100 military spouses, American Red Cross volunteers and others gathered inside a hangar at Joint Base Andrews near the nation’s capital for the event.

The first lady praised the spouses for carrying “the weight of family life” while their husbands or wives are away from home serving the country.

Usha Vance, whose husband, Vice President JD Vance, is a former Marine, said the holiday season is a time to “lift up” those who serve.

After speaking, both women took up positions at tables to help stuff “comfort kits” as they were being filled with Rice Krispies treats, peanuts, granola bars and handwritten notes. They also joined others who were writing holiday cards for deployed service members.

The first lady wrote in one of her cards: “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you for your service. Our nation is proud of you!” and signed it, “With warm wishes, Melania Trump.”

“The two leaders stressed the importance and obligation of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and discussed expanding the peace agreements,” according to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The call comes a day after Netanyahu asked his country’s president to grant him a pardon from corruption charges, a move that would end a long-running trial that has bitterly divided the nation.

Trump has publicly urged Israel to pardon Netanyahu, turning to President Isaac Herzog during his speech to Israel’s parliament during an October visit. Trump also recently sent a letter to Herzog calling the corruption case “political, unjustified prosecution.”

The president in a social media posting said his administration is “very satisfied” with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s efforts to stabilize Syria as the Mideast nation nears the one-year anniversary of the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

But Trump also underscored that it’s “very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State.”

Trump’s comments come as Israel moves to secure its northern borders. Israeli military forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people in the deadliest Israeli attack since its troops seized a swath of southern Syria a year ago.

Around 250 federal border agents are aiming to arrest 5,000 people after Monday’s expected launch of what they’re calling “Swamp Sweep,” a monthslong immigration crackdown in southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi.

The deployment centered in liberal New Orleans is the latest to target a Democratic-run city as the Trump administration pursues its mass deportation agenda.

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who has led aggressive operations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, is expected to helm the campaign. Many people in the greater New Orleans area have been on edge since the planned operations were reported this month. Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he welcomes the federal agents.

▶ Read more about the “Swamp Sweep”

After a string of Democratic victories last month, the next test comes Tuesday in a special congressional election in Tennessee.

Republican Matt Van Epps and Democrat Aftyn Behn are the nominees to replace former GOP Rep. Mark Green, who resigned in July. Van Epps is a West Point graduate and former Army helicopter pilot who led the Tennessee Department of General Services and has Trump’s endorsement. Behn is a progressive state representative who has drawn comparisons to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

The GOP is looking to pad its narrow six-vote House advantage. Most of the 7th District has elected only Republicans to Congress for more than a dozen years, but it has more Democratic voters since Republicans redrew the lines in 2022 to include parts of Davidson County, which is home to Nashville.

Indiana House Republicans published a draft of a map on Monday morning with new boundaries designed to oust the state’s two Democratic U.S. House members.

The city of Indianapolis would be split among four congressional districts, a major change to the current map where the city makes up the entirety of the 7th District that reliably backs Democrats.

Indiana’s other current Democratic district is in the state’s northwest corner near Chicago. The new map would instead group a large portion of Republican counties in northern Indiana with the cities of East Chicago and Gary to make a new 1st Congressional District.

Indiana lawmakers have been under mounting pressure from the White House to redistrict like Republicans in Texas, Ohio and North Carolina have. To offset the GOP gains, Democrats in California and Virginia have moved to do the same.

Indiana House members are expected to convene Monday to push for redrawing the state’s congressional districts in the Republicans’ favor, increasing pressure on their defiant counterparts in the GOP-led state Senate to meet Trump’s demands.

Republicans who control the House have said there’s no doubt redistricting will pass that chamber. The proposal’s fate remains uncertain in the Senate, where Republicans have resisted pressure to redistrict for months. Senators have now agreed to meet Dec. 8 and resolve the issue.

Republicans hold seven of Indiana’s existing nine U.S. House seats. Trump and other Republicans want a map that could enable a 9-0 GOP sweep and make it harder for Democrats to flip the Republican majority in Washington.

“Home is Where the Heart is” is the theme she chose for her family’s first Christmas back at the White House.

The decorations also nod to next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the founding of the United States of America.

The gingerbread White House, an annual highlight dating to the Nixon administration, showcases the South Portico and provides a glimpse into the Yellow Oval room as decorated by the Trumps.

The Yellow Oval is a sitting room in the president’s private living quarters on the second floor of the White House.

Public tours resume on Tuesday.

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Trump administration’s maneuvers to keep the president’s former lawyer Alina Habba in place as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor were illegal and she is disqualified.

The panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes amid the administration’s push to keep Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey. The judges questioned the government’s moves to keep Habba in place after her interim appointment expired and without her getting Senate confirmation.

Habba said after the Oct. 20 hearing that she was fighting on behalf of other candidates to be federal prosecutors who have been denied Senate hearings.

▶ Read more about Trump administration prosecutors whose appointments have been challenged

Venezuelan opposition leaders hoped U.S. military threats would weaken President Nicolás Maduro’s support. But the strategy of loyalty or punishment among the ruling party’s leadership continues to hold, despite the buildup off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast.

The Trump administration says the military operation aims to counter narcotics. But experts say these actions only strengthen Maduro and his allies and unites them against external threats.

▶ Read more about why Maduro’s grip on power is hard to crack

So what does it mean? The upper part of the K refers to higher-income Americans seeing their incomes and wealth rise. The bottom points to lower-income households struggling with weaker income gains and steep prices.

The term helps explain an unusually muddy and convoluted period for the U.S. economy. Growth appears solid, yet hiring is sluggish and unemployment has ticked up. Overall consumer spending is still rising, but Americans are less confident. AI-related data center construction is soaring while factories are laying off workers and home sales are weak. And the stock market still hovers near record highs even as wage growth slows, making affordability much more of a concern for middle and lower-income households.

▶ Here are some things to know about the K-shaped economy

U.S. and Ukrainian officials completed roughly four hours of talks Sunday aimed at finding an endgame to the war just days before a U.S. envoy is due in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It’s not just about the terms that ends fighting,” Rubio said. “It’s about also the terms that set up Ukraine for long-term prosperity. ... I think we built on that today, but there’s more work to be done.”

The move by Trump’s administration intensifies efforts to limit legal immigration.

The Republican administration is promising to pause entry to the United States from some poor nations and review Afghans and other legal migrants already in the country.

“If you want to have it released, I’ll release it,” the president said during an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida.

He called the results of the October tests “perfect,” but said he could not recall which part of his body was scanned.