Prominent figures from Donald Trump’s Cabinet and national security team are poised to gather for a crucial meeting. Among the attendees will be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Joining them are White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, underscoring the significance of the discussions.

Simultaneously, the US military presence in the region is substantial, with over a dozen warships and 15,000 troops deployed under the initiative known as “Operation Southern Spear.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized that President Trump is actively engaging with his national security team, addressing this situation along with other global concerns. She stated, “It’s part of his responsibility to ensure that peace is ongoing throughout the world.”

This high-level meeting comes at a time when Trump and his military advisors are under increasing scrutiny regarding the legality of US military actions. Specifically, questions are being raised about strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the area, which have reportedly resulted in over 80 casualties.

The United States is not officially at war with Venezuela, yet both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed their intention to investigate reports of a subsequent US strike on a suspected drug vessel. This action followed an initial attack that did not eliminate all individuals on board, prompting legal and ethical questions.

Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent voice in the discussion, highlighted the legal concerns, stating, “The law is clear,” during a CNN interview on Monday morning. This underscores the growing bipartisan interest in ensuring that military operations adhere to legal standards.

“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 the official who ordered the follow-up strike – Admiral Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, commander of the US Special Operations Command – and said he was acting “well within his authority.”

“On September 2, Secretary Hegseth authorised Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral 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,” Leavitt said.

Pressed on the legal justification for the strike, Leavitt said it was “conducted in self-defence to protect Americans” and was carried out “in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”

Trump told reporters that he personally would not have wanted a second strike and seemed to cast doubt on the idea Hegseth had ordered it.

“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,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “So, we’ll look into it, but no, I wouldn’t have wanted that, not a second strike.”

King, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Congress would seek to interview “people up and down the chain of command.”

“The question is, what order did the Secretary of Defence 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 said.

Leavitt said Hegseth had spoken with lawmakers who expressed concerns, but she did not specify which ones. She generally defended the amount of information the administration has shared with Congress about the escalating campaign.

“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,” Leavitt said.

And the administration has shown no signs of slowing its activity in the region. The president said last week that the US would be stopping Venezuelan drug trafficking by land, in addition to sea, “very soon.”

Over the weekend, the president issued a broad directive on social media, warning airlines, pilots and criminal networks to avoid Venezuelan airspace. He told reporters not to read into the announcement.

Trump also confirmed he had spoken with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the phone, but didn’t address what was discussed. The administration last week formally designated Maduro and allies of his government as members of a foreign terrorist organisation, a move officials argue will give the US expanded military options for striking inside Venezuela.

GOP Representative Maria Salazar, meanwhile, said she felt Trump’s announcement that he planned to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, effectively erasing a major US drug-trafficking conviction, sent a mixed message as the administration escalated its campaign against Maduro.

“I would have never done that,” the Florida Republican told CNN’s Dana Bash.

Leavitt on Monday defended the move, arguing that the former Honduran president’s US drug-trafficking conviction was a result of Biden-era “over-prosecution.”

“President Trump has been quite clear in his defence 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 weaponised Justice Department under the previous administration.”