WATCH LIVE: Trump holds a Cabinet meeting as Sept. 2 boat strike comes under bipartisan scrutiny

President Donald Trump called his Cabinet to meet Tuesday morning as the administration insists that it was lawful for the U.S. military to kill survivors of its air strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in September. Experts in the military code say this was clearly illegal, but The White House said Monday that Navy Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley ordered the second strike and was “within his authority and the law.”

Trump is expected to hold a Cabinet meeting at 11:30 a.m. EST. Watch live in our video player above.

The military operation has come under bipartisan scrutiny from lawmakers after The Washington Post reported that that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed two survivors on the boat.

WATCH: ‘That 2nd strike was a violation of the laws of war,’ former senior military lawyer says

Trump vigorously defended Hegseth on Sunday. “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said. “And I believe him.” Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers overseeing the military.