Venezuela White House meeting kicks off Trump’s high-stakes week as Cabinet huddle looms
The White House is preparing to hold a meeting about its strategy regarding Venezuela — as it also is gearing up for Christmas and the administration's ninth Cabinet meeting this...
By Fox News · Fox News
The White House is preparing to hold a meeting about its strategy regarding Venezuela — as it also is gearing up for Christmas and the administration's ninth Cabinet meeting this week. The White House confirmed CNN's reporting that Trump will hold a meeting Monday evening with members of his Cabinet and other national security leaders to discuss future actions regarding Venezuela. Trump admitted Sunday that he spoke to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the phone in late November, amid escalating tensions between the two countries as the Trump administration has waged a crusade against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America. WASHINGTON’S SHADOW WAR: HOW STRIKES ON CARTELS THREATEN TO COLLAPSE MADURO’S REGIME The meeting comes after Trump announced Saturday that pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers should "consider" the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela closed, but he told reporters Sunday to not "read anything into it" when asked if an airstrike was imminent. The meeting also comes amid additional scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle about the strikes, following a Friday report from the Washington Post that claimed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth instructed that no survivors remain during an attack on an alleged drug boat in September, prompting a second strike. Hegseth denied the report, and labeled it "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory." But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that a second strike occurred, and said that commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Frank Bradley, was within his legal right to do so. "On September 2nd, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes," Leavitt said. "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." Even so, she pushed back on the Washington Post's reporting describing that Hegs…