{"id":2516449,"date":"2025-12-02T09:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hegseth-to-be-in-spotlight-as-trump-holds-cabinet-meeting\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T09:30:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:30:05","slug":"hegseth-to-be-in-spotlight-as-trump-holds-cabinet-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hegseth-to-be-in-spotlight-as-trump-holds-cabinet-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth to be in spotlight as Trump holds Cabinet meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhegseth-to-be-in-spotlight-as-trump-holds-cabinet-meeting%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2516449&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports that President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting as War Secretary Pete Hegseth faced scrutiny over his authorization of lethal strikes against narco-traffickers in the Caribbean. Hegseth has been accused of ordering the killing of all suspects on a vessel, including survivors from an initial strike, leading to accusations of war crimes. However,both Hegseth and the White House defend the actions,attributing operational decisions to Navy Admiral mitch Bradley,who carried out the second strike under Hegseth&#8217;s authorization. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized that Admiral Bradley acted lawfully and with full support.Trump recently indicated he would not have approved the second strike, sparking speculation about tensions between the White House and the Pentagon, though Leavitt dismissed such rumors. Hegseth is expected to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >face questions publicly<\/a> for the first time at the Cabinet meeting,while Admiral Bradley is scheduled to brief lawmakers investigating the incident. Congressional committees have launched inquiries into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/duss-boosts-omar-tweet-praising-court-decision-to-investigate-israeli-war-crimes\/\" title=\"Duss Boosts Omar Tweet Praising Court Decision to Investigate Israeli \u2018...\u2019\">alleged war crimes<\/a>,and discussions on the governance&#8217;s recent military actions are anticipated in upcoming Pentagon briefings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Trump holds Cabinet meeting as administration protects Hegseth from &lsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rand-paul-blasts-thoughtless-jd-vance-on-drug-vessel-strike\/\" title=\"Rand Paul blasts ...thoughtless... JD Vance on drug vessel ...\">war crime&#038;rsquo<\/a>; accusations<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2420583\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>As President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> hosts a Cabinet meeting at the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\">White House<\/a> on Tuesday, War Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\">Pete Hegseth<\/a> is expected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yours-bigly\/\" title=\"Bigly yours\">receive ample attention<\/a> from the press over his reported authorization of orders to kill narco-terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>Critics have accused Hegseth of committing &ldquo;war crimes&rdquo; for giving the order to kill all accused narco-traffickers on a vessel in the Caribbean. The first strike did not kill everyone on board the ship, prompting a subsequent strike that killed the survivors.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3903264\/trump-escalation-venezuela-splits-republicans\/\">Tug-of-war: Trump&#8217;s escalation against Venezuela splits Republicans<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3902811\/trump-united-states-satisfied-syria-al-sharaa-asks-israel-not-interfere\/\">Trump says US &#8216;very satisfied&#8217; with Syria under al Sharaa and asks Israel not to &#8216;interfere&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3898355\/karoline-leavitt-threat-interior-real-cultural-invasion\/\">Leavitt says &#8216;threat in our interior remains real and urgent&#8217; when asked if US is facing cultural invasion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Hegseth reportedly ordered the United States military to &ldquo;kill everybody&rdquo; aboard in the Sept. 2 strikes, according to a <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/11\/28\/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike\/\">Washington Post<\/a><\/em>  report last week. Since then, he has been accused by lawmakers of violating international law.<\/p>\n<p>However, both Hegseth and the White House have been defending the embattled <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pentagon\/\">Pentagon<\/a> chief by laying the responsibility for the orders in question on Navy Adm. Mitch Bradley, who was authorized by Hegseth to conduct the lethal strikes. Bradley was the one who ordered the second strike.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law,&rdquo; White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday. &ldquo;He directed the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat of narco-terrorists to the United States was completely eliminated.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth gave the admiral his <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3903487\/hegseth-bradley-second-strike-drug-boat-survivors\/\">full support<\/a> later that day.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s make one thing crystal clear: 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 &mdash; on the September 2 mission and all others since,&rdquo; Hegseth <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PeteHegseth\/status\/1995643490152128919\">wrote on X<\/a>. &ldquo;America is fortunate to have such men protecting us. When this [Department of War] says we have the back of our warriors &mdash; we mean it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Over the weekend, Trump made a statement that he wouldn&rsquo;t have called for a second strike, which critics pounced on as evidence of a schism between the White House and the Pentagon. Leavitt&rsquo;s comments halted rumors that Hegseth was on the outs with the White House. <\/p>\n<p>The Cabinet meeting, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, will be the first time Hegseth faces questions on camera about the strikes since the<em> Washington Post<\/em> article. All eyes will be watching whether there is any daylight between Trump and his Pentagon chief.<\/p>\n<p>Trump met with his national security team Monday night to discuss operations in Venezuela. No announcements have come out of that meeting yet.<\/p>\n<p>Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing this week to bipartisan lawmakers who are investigating the strikes. The briefing is anticipated to take place on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate and House Armed Services Committee chairmen have already announced inquiries into the allegations of war crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said it would be &ldquo;helpful&rdquo; to have Hegseth testify before Congress in the near future.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/daily-on-defense\/3903607\/white-house-confirms-key-points-of-second-strike-on-drug-boat\/\">WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS KEY POINTS OF WASHINGTON POST ACCOUNT OF SECOND STRIKE ON DRUG BOAT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration&rsquo;s recent military moves could also be brought up at a Pentagon press event later Tuesday. The event will be attended by largely right-wing news outlets that signed the new press policy, which prohibits journalists from soliciting information that the government doesn&rsquo;t authorize. The new press pool is expected to be able to ask questions of Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson during a briefing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump holds Cabinet meeting amid war crime claims against Hegseth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2516450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25330107372942.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[41383,45173,5894,16758,3634],"class_list":["post-2516449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cabinet-meeting","tag-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-spotlight","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AP25330107372942.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2516453,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516449\/revisions\/2516453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}