Category: Foreign Policy

Trump will support more strikes on Iran if it rebuilds its missiles program

President Trump declared Monday that he would support Israeli military strikes against Iran if the country rebuilds its ballistic missile or nuclear weapons programs, stating “we will knock the hell out of them.” Speaking ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Palm Beach residence, Trump claimed he had learned Iran was attempting to expand its missile capabilities and threatened military action to prevent such advancement.

Trump referenced his June authorization of U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, which he had previously claimed totally destroyed the country’s capabilities. He conditioned future support for Israeli action on Iran’s continued weapons development, saying “if they will continue with the missiles, yes. The nuclear, fast,” signaling readiness to endorse immediate strikes if nuclear programs resumed.

During the Monday meeting with Netanyahu, Trump also endorsed granting the Israeli prime minister a pardon from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, calling Netanyahu a “wartime prime minister who’s a hero” and claiming Herzog told him a pardon was forthcoming. Netanyahu is currently facing a corruption trial and has requested the preemptive pardon before any potential conviction.

The meeting occurred as Netanyahu and Trump discussed escalating Iranian threats and the Gaza ceasefire. Trump’s statements on Iran followed his hosting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago the previous day, where Trump expressed optimism about negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, demonstrating his administration’s willingness to pursue military action against some adversaries while seeking diplomatic deals with others.

(Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-support-more-strikes-iran-203217312.html)

Trump Doubles Down On Claim U.S. Attacked Inside Venezuela

President Donald Trump claimed on December 29 that the United States struck a facility inside Venezuela, stating during a conversation at Mar-a-Lago that “we hit all the boats and now we hit the area.” Trump declined to specify whether the U.S. military or CIA conducted the operation, saying only that it occurred “along the shore” and that the targeted area is “no longer around.” This assertion followed an earlier radio interview where Trump first mentioned knocking out a “big facility where the ships come from” two nights prior.

The White House, Pentagon, U.S. Southern Command, and CIA have provided no official confirmation or evidence corroborating Trump’s claim. Anonymous American officials told The New York Times that Trump was “referring to a drug facility in Venezuela” but offered no details. Videos circulated online suggesting an explosion and fire at a Primazol chemical plant near Lake Maracaibo matched Trump’s timeline, though the company rejected claims it was attacked. A local journalist cautioned against the connection, noting residents observed nothing unusual. Trump’s statement remains unverified by independent sources or Venezuelan authorities.

Trump’s announcement followed months of escalating military operations in the Caribbean, including a declared “total and complete blockade” of Venezuelan oil shipments and numerous strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels that have killed over 100 people. The U.S. military presence has expanded significantly, with satellite imagery documenting doubled deployments of MC-130J transport aircraft, CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotors, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and special operations forces staging at Puerto Rico airports. Personnel have been photographed obscuring fences to conceal military aircraft from public view.

The Trump administration has simultaneously expanded U.S. military presence across Latin America through security agreements, establishing troop deployment rights and operational access across multiple nations under the stated pretext of counter-narcotics efforts. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned both the blockade and seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers, characterizing the policy as “neo-colonial” and warning of unpredictable consequences for the Western Hemisphere. The proximity of an amphibious ready group and special operations mothership in late December suggests preparations for operations beyond attacks on vessels.

Trump’s unsubstantiated claim of a Venezuelan strike contradicts the established pattern of official silence regarding covert military action, raising questions about the veracity of his assertion and the scope of undisclosed operations in the region. The absence of White House corroboration, military confirmation, or independent verification stands against Trump’s public statements, while escalating military deployments and infrastructure expansion indicate sustained preparations for expanded kinetic operations.

(Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-doubles-down-claim-u-204927819.html)

Trump Hires Beauty Salon Owner Mora Namdar to Decide Who to Ban From U.S.

Donald Trump appointed Mora Namdar, a Texas-based beauty salon owner and attorney, as assistant secretary for consular affairs, giving her authority over visa approvals, revocations, and decisions about who enters the United States. Namdar, 46, owns the Bam salon chain in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano, offering blowouts starting at $45 and makeup sessions at $55, while simultaneously operating a one-woman law firm she announced closing on Christmas Day. She previously held an interim position in the State Department’s Middle East and North Africa bureau during Trump’s first term in 2020.

Namdar’s Senate confirmation this month elevates a politically connected operative with no demonstrated expertise in immigration or consular affairs to control visa adjudications affecting millions of foreigners. In testimony, she aligned visa decisions with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s national security framing, stating that consular officers can revoke visas for individuals who “undermine” U.S. foreign policy, a standard potentially weaponizable against political opponents and critics.

Namdar contributed to Project 2025, Trump’s policy blueprint, by authoring a section attacking the U.S. Agency for Global Media—which operates Voice of America and Radio Free Europe—accusing it of “espionage-related security risks” and “anti-U.S. talking points,” and calling for its reform or closure. Her appointment operationalizes the “personnel is policy” strategy documented by PBS, which found the administration has implemented approximately half of Project 2025’s agenda through ideological staffing choices.

Her interim leadership of the State Department’s Near Eastern affairs bureau triggered internal concerns about management and morale according to multiple outlets. Namdar now oversees implementation of the administration’s ban on citizens from various European countries announced Wednesday, which Trump and Rubio framed as punishment for “egregious” social media censorship of “American viewpoints,” with additional bans promised.

This appointment exemplifies Trump’s strategy of installing operatives committed to Project 2025’s authoritarian goals across government agencies controlling speech and entry. Paired with FCC chairman Brendan Carr—another Project 2025 architect now pushing regulatory rollbacks and culture-war “censorship” narratives—Namdar’s position consolidates power to silence dissent and control who accesses the United States based on political loyalty rather than law.

(Source: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hires-beauty-salon-owner-mora-namdar-to-decide-who-to-ban-from-us/)

‘Gunboat diplomacy on steroids’: US signs security deals across Latin America | US military

The Trump administration is rapidly expanding US military presence across Latin America and the Caribbean through security agreements signed with Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and Panama over recent weeks. These deals authorize US troop deployments, airport access, radar installations, and armed operations under the stated pretext of a “war on drugs,” while simultaneously conducting a four-month military campaign against Venezuela that includes oil tanker blockades, vessel seizures, and airstrikes that have killed over 100 people across the Caribbean and Pacific.

Analysts characterize the strategy as establishing operational infrastructure for a potential larger offensive against Venezuela and potentially other nations including Colombia and Cuba. Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, stated that constructing a network of locations across the region would be necessary for sustaining any expanded military operation, and Jorge Heine, former Chilean ambassador and Boston University researcher, directly contradicted the drug-war rationale by noting that Paraguay and Venezuela are not major drug production or distribution centers, indicating the actions align with Trump’s recently released national security strategy document calling for expanded US military presence in the region.

The Trump administration has reframed the Monroe Doctrine as a “Trump Corollary” explicitly calling for military expansion in Latin America, reversing historical patterns of US restraint. Ecuador rejected foreign military bases in a referendum, yet the US secured temporary air force troop deployment anyway; Peru’s congress authorized armed US military and intelligence operations following White House pressure; and Trinidad and Tobago’s installation of US radar prompted Venezuela’s interior minister to threaten retaliation and the regime to terminate fossil gas supply agreements with the Caribbean nation.

John Walsh, director for drug policy at the Washington Office on Latin America, described the strategy as “gunboat diplomacy on steroids,” designed to reward compliant allies while threatening nations that resist Trump administration objectives. Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro issued an urgent letter to regional leaders warning that US escalation “threatens to destabilise the entire region,” yet his diplomatic isolation—having had almost no contact with other presidents following his disputed 2024 reelection—limits his ability to mobilize regional opposition, while Trump has explicitly threatened Colombia’s leftwing president Gustavo Petro as a potential next target.

The military buildup leverages existing US infrastructure including bases in Puerto Rico, Honduras, and Cuba, alongside surveillance hubs at airports in El Salvador, Aruba, and Curaçao. For nations refusing to align with the Trump administration, Walsh explained that the visible US military presence nearby functions as an implicit threat designed to ensure compliance with American interests.

(Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/23/us-trump-administration-signs-security-deals-across-latin-america)

Pentagon plan calls for major power shifts within U.S. military – The Washington Post

Senior Pentagon officials are preparing a reorganization plan that would downgrade multiple major military headquarters and redistribute authority among the U.S. armed forces’ top generals, according to sources familiar with the initiative. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is driving the consolidation effort, which marks a significant restructuring of military command hierarchy.

The plan involves substantial shifts in power dynamics within the Department of Defense, fundamentally altering how the military branches coordinate and operate under unified command structures. The specific details of which headquarters would be downgraded and how authority would be redistributed remain under development by Pentagon leadership.

This reorganization reflects Hegseth’s broader agenda to reshape institutional military structures since his appointment as Defense Secretary. The consolidation strategy signals an effort to centralize control and streamline decision-making processes within the military establishment.

The timing and scope of these changes underscore the administration’s intent to remake federal institutions according to its preferences, consistent with earlier purges of independent oversight mechanisms across agencies. Such institutional overhauls typically encounter resistance from career military officers and existing power structures invested in current arrangements.

(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/12/15/military-command-plan-caine-hegseth/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwdGRleAOtqdBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeb0mL3h6sJ1c_rBbLs0pcvApkKc8QD239S1X4dkYO2-ExKYQR2RscmrNIDOA_aem_QgyNhVpMmirOwJFbOUMA9w)

US seizes second vessel off Venezuelan after Trump’s blockade threat, reports say | The Independent

The United States Coast Guard seized the Panama-flagged tanker Centuries off the coast of Barbados in the Caribbean Sea, marking the second vessel confiscated in recent weeks as part of Trump’s blockade of Venezuelan oil. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated the Coast Guard would “continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region,” though legal experts dispute the justification for seizing unsanctioned vessels.

Jeremy Paner, a former U.S. Treasury Department sanctions investigator, directly contradicted Trump’s stated policy by confirming the Centuries had not been sanctioned by the United States. Paner stated the seizure of an unsanctioned vessel “marks a further increase in Trump’s pressure on Venezuela” and “runs counter to Trump’s statement that the U.S. would impose a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers,” exposing the operation’s scope beyond its stated legal framework.

The Centuries carried 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude bound for China under a false vessel name and was part of a shadow fleet designed to evade sanctions. Since Trump’s first tanker seizure last week, Venezuelan crude exports have collapsed sharply, with an effective embargo forcing loaded vessels to remain in Venezuelan waters rather than risk confiscation, despite many not being under U.S. sanctions.

Trump’s military campaign against Venezuela has killed at least 100 people through more than two dozen strikes on vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean, with announced plans for imminent land operations. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro contends the military buildup aims to overthrow his government and seize the nation’s vast oil reserves, the world’s largest crude deposits.

The seizure strategy contradicts international law governing unsanctioned vessels and exposes economic objectives beyond counter-narcotics claims. If the blockade persists, the loss of nearly one million barrels daily will drive global oil prices higher, shifting market leverage and destabilizing energy markets while demonstrating Trump’s use of military and economic coercion to control foreign governments and resources.

(Source: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-seizing-vessel-venezuela-trump-blockade-oil-tanker-b2888347.html)

Trump orders ‘total and complete blockade’ of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump announced a “total and complete blockade” of oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela on Tuesday via Truth Social, escalating military and economic pressure against Nicolás Maduro’s government. Trump stated that U.S. military assets surround Venezuela and demanded the country return oil, land, and assets to the United States, exposing the operation’s economic objectives beyond stated anti-drug efforts.

The blockade targets Venezuela’s primary economic lifeline amid existing international sanctions on its oil sector. Trump has repeatedly indicated that U.S. companies should regain access to Venezuela’s oil reserves—the world’s largest—if Maduro is removed from power. State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela controls the petroleum industry, though Houston-based Chevron operates under a sanctions carve-out that Trump revoked in March before conditionally reissuing it.

Trump accused Maduro of using “stolen oil” to finance terrorism, human trafficking, and criminal activity. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that the administration’s military campaign aims to pressure Maduro to step down, contradicting earlier framing focused solely on narcotics interdiction. Venezuela’s government condemned the announcement as “a reckless and serious threat” and “a grave violation of International Law,” noting that blockades constitute acts of war under international treaties.

A 1961 Justice Department memo regarding Cuban tensions established that blockades are justified only when a state of war exists. Trump’s military operations in the region, including threatened ground invasions, follow Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement of “Southern Spear,” a hemisphere-wide military operation targeting suspected drug operations.

The blockade represents an explicit shift from counternarcotics justification to resource seizure, with Trump signaling intent to restore American corporate control over Venezuelan petroleum assets previously nationalized in the 1970s. Venezuela’s oil is sold primarily to China due to existing U.S. sanctions imposed since 2005.

(Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/politics/blockade-venezuela-sanctioned-oil-tankers)

Trump Does Putin’s Bidding and pulls out NATO funding

Senior U.S. defense officials have informed European allies that the United States will stop being NATO’s primary conventional defense provider beyond 2027. This shift comes amid ongoing support for Ukraine, although European countries will need to lead NATO’s defense efforts moving forward. The Pentagon emphasized that its focus has shifted to the Indo-Pacific region, necessitating this structural change.

U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine are expected to increase ahead of Christmas, despite this strategic pivot. Washington’s message is clear: while support for Ukraine remains, European nations must prepare for a NATO where the U.S. is not the automatic first responder. A senior Western official described the mood as Europe being placed on a strict timeline to adapt.

Moreover, the Pentagon has warned European capitals to expect no surprises; it intends to reduce its contributions to NATO significantly. If a Europe-led NATO structure isn’t established by 2027, the U.S. is prepared to withdraw from key planning processes, including the NATO Defense Planning Process (NDPP).

While the Trump administration is not currently planning major troop reductions in Europe, it will cut the number of senior U.S. officers within NATO command. These steps have been characterized as a transition towards European leadership in collective defense, with NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander remaining American for now.

Overall, the shift marks the end of U.S. dominance in NATO and raises concerns about the transatlantic security landscape. The Pentagon’s drive for Europe to demonstrate military capability reflects its demand for verifiable evidence of European seriousness in regional defense.

(Source: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/65690)

Matt Gaetz Attends Pentagon Briefing

Former Congressman Matt Gaetz participated in a Pentagon press briefing, joining various far-right MAGA influencers including Laura Loomer and Jack Posobiec. Credentials for regular reporters were revoked when they refused to sign a pledge to report only on pre-approved materials from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

During the briefing, Gaetz directed questions to Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson, inquiring about the Department of Defense’s role in a post-Maduro Venezuela. Wilson responded that the department has contingency plans and emphasized the importance of their ongoing operations against narco-terrorists, stating each operation saves American lives.

Gaetz pressed further, asking whether the administration views anyone associated with the Venezuelan military or government as automatically a narco-terrorist. Wilson indicated that this determination lies with the President but clarified that targets confirmed as drug traffickers are considered narco-terrorists.

Gaetz, who currently hosts a show on One America News Network, has faced scrutiny for his extreme statements, including anti-Israel rhetoric. His show recently fired a staff member over an anti-Semitic video posted online.

Trump Closes Venezuelan Airspace Amid Maduro Tensions

President Donald Trump announced the complete closure of Venezuelan airspace, warning all parties—including airlines and drug traffickers—via a post on Truth Social. This declaration comes amid escalating threats of military action against the country and its leader, Nicolás Maduro, whom Trump accuses of orchestrating drug smuggling operations. The closure is part of a series of over 20 military operations targeting suspected drug-running vessels linked to Venezuela.

Despite ongoing tensions, Trump’s recent engagement with Maduro included discussions of a potential meeting, although none was scheduled. The strained relations follow the U.S. rejecting Maduro’s offer of a significant stake in Venezuelan oil fields to improve ties. In light of these developments, Trump’s administration has publicly acknowledged plans to strike Venezuelan military sites as soon as deemed necessary.

In alignment with his aggressive approach, Trump has also authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela and the Department of Justice is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest. While Trump previously underestimated the likelihood of war in Venezuela, discussions among his advisors suggest a land invasion is a possible option.

Fox News contributor Dan Hoffman hinted that Trump shutting down the airspace indicates multiple strategies are being considered for handling Maduro. The overall tone from Trump suggests an escalating rivalry, likely complicating prospects for a peaceful resolution in the region.

1 2 3 … 58