President Donald Trump said that he spoke to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum over the phone on Thursday about multiple issues and praised the leader, whom he has recently criticized.
Trump said the call with Sheinbaum &#8220;focused on the Border, stopping Drug Trafficking, and Trade&#8221; and went &#8220;extremely well for both Countries.&#8221; He added that he hopes to set up a meeting between the United States and Mexico soon.
&#8220;Mexico has a wonderful and highly intelligent Leader — They should be very happy about that!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115979311914390909">said</a>.
Sheinbaum <a href="https://x.com/Claudiashein/status/2016893373026607529">said</a> her call with Trump was &#8220;productive and cordial.&#8221;
&#8220;We continue to make progress on trade issues and the bilateral relationship,&#8221; she added.
Trump and Sheinbaum have butted heads throughout the past year over Trump&#8217;s tariffs and his suggestion that the United States could target drug traffickers in Mexico. Last May, Trump reportedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-pressures-mexico-to-allow-u-s-military-to-lead-fight-against-drug-cartels?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Pressures+Mexico+To+Allow+U.S.+Military+To+Lead+Fight+Against+Drug+Cartels">pressured</a> Sheinbaum to allow U.S. troops to go into the country to fight the drug cartels, but Sheinbaum was not willing to give U.S. forces the green light. Trump then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-mexicos-president-afraid-to-let-american-troops-come-fight-cartels?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+Mexico%E2%80%99s+President+%E2%80%98Afraid%E2%80%99+To+Let+American+Troops+Come+Fight+Cartels">blasted</a> Sheinbaum, saying she was &#8220;afraid&#8221; and &#8220;can’t even think straight.&#8221;
The Mexican president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mexican-president-says-u-s-military-will-not-fight-drug-cartels-on-its-soil?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Mexican+President+Says+U.S.+Military+Will+Not+Fight+Drug+Cartels+On+Its+Soil">doubled down</a> on her opposition to Trump sending U.S. troops to her country in August after The New York Times reported that Trump quietly signed an order to use military force against drug cartels in foreign countries.
&#8220;The United States is not going to come to Mexico with the military,&#8221; Sheinbaum said, adding, &#8220;We cooperate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion. That is ruled out, absolutely ruled out. It is not part of any agreement, far from it. When it has been brought up, we have always said no.&#8221;
After the United States captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/09/americas/analysis-mexican-drug-cartels-trump-intl-latam">said</a> the cartels are &#8220;running Mexico,&#8221; adding that &#8220;we have to do something&#8221; about drugs &#8220;pouring through Mexico.&#8221; He again said Sheinbaum was &#8220;afraid&#8221; to deal with Mexican cartels.
As the United States conducts strikes on suspected drug runner boats in international waters in the Caribbean, Trump also suggested last week that he would authorize strikes on drug runners on highly-trafficked land passages, which could include Mexico.
&#8220;We’re going to hit the cartels,” he <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/01/24/us-news/trump-reveals-to-the-post-on-land-drug-strikes-could-hit-anywhere-including-mexico-central-and-south-america/">told</a> the New York Post. &#8220;We know their routes. We know everything about them. We know their homes. We know everything about them. We’re going to hit the cartels.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s tariffs have also represented a conflict between him and the Mexican leader. After Trump hit Mexico, Canada, and China with tariffs over what he called their failure to address fentanyl trafficking, Sheinbaum said Mexico would retaliate, but the country paused its retaliatory tariffs on the United States as it sought to negotiate a trade deal, and many products from Mexico are protected under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA).
On Wednesday, Mexico&#8217;s economy chief Marcelo Ebrard met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington, D.C., to discuss potential changes to the USMCA, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/mexicos-sheinbaum-says-she-had-productive-call-with-trump-trade-2026-01-29/">reported</a>. The USMCA went into effect in 2020 and is up for a joint review in July, when the United States, Mexico, and Canada must come to an agreement for the pact to be extended.

Trump/Sheinbaum

Trump Praises Mexico’s President After Phone Call Addressing Border, Drug Trafficking, And Trade

Claudia Sheinbaum

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

drug trafficking

Mexico

trade

U.S.

A group of 37 cartel members accused of committing crimes across the United States was flown in from Mexico Tuesday night as the Trump administration looks to crack down on the criminal organizations and increase pressure on the Mexican government.
Among the dozens of cartel members were human smugglers, arms traffickers, and alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste, Cártel del Golfo, Gulf Cartel, La Linea, and the former Beltrán-Leyva Organization, according to the Department of Justice.
The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration said that Mexico participated in the transfer of the fugitives, which was the largest of its kind and the third time the Mexican government has used its National Security Law to send fugitives north. Mexico&#8217;s cooperation signals a new willingness to crack down on cartel crimes alongside the United States.
“This is another landmark achievement in the Trump Administration’s mission to destroy the cartels. These 37 cartel members – including terrorists from the Sinaloa Cartel, CJNG, and others – will now pay for their crimes against the American people on American soil. We are grateful for this collaboration with our international partners and will deliver swift, comprehensive justice for members of Foreign Terrorist Organizations who have spent years preying on the American people,&#8221; Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement after the operation.
<div id="attachment_1031457" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1031457" class="wp-image-1031457 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-2026-01-21T151932.244-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-2026-01-21T151932.244-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-2026-01-21T151932.244-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-2026-01-21T151932.244-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-2026-01-21T151932.244.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Department of Justice</div>
One of the individuals transferred was Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, who allegedly provided CJNG with grenades and engaged in illegal immigrant smuggling, firearms trafficking, bulk cash smuggling, and narcotics trafficking for the cartel, according to the Justice Department.
Additionally, Eduardo Rigoberto Velasco Calderon and Eliomar Segura Torres were brought over after they allegedly laundered drug money for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion and the Sinaloa Cartel by transferring the funds through cryptocurrency transactions, according to the DOJ.
Heriberto Hernández Rodriguez was also brought over from Mexico. He&#8217;s a member of Cártel del Noreste and is allegedly responsible for drug trafficking, kidnappings and assassinations, and procuring weapons for the cartel, according to the DOJ.
The cartel member allegedly commanded hundreds of sicarios and ordered the killings of multiple people between 2006 and 2022.
He also allegedly headed security for the cartel’s stash houses in Mexico, &#8220;which served as staging points for thousands of kilograms of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine to be transported into the United States for distribution,&#8221; the DOJ said.
The first Sinaloa cartel leader to be hit with terrorism charges, Pedro Inzunza Noriega, was also brought to the U.S. He also faces drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, allegedly worked together to produce and traffic tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the United States as they led &#8220;one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world,&#8221; according to the DOJ.
Mexican authorities raided multiple drug sites allegedly controlled by the father and son duo in December 2024, seizing 1,500 kilograms of fentanyl, which was the largest known seizure of fentanyl in world history.
The son was killed during a capture operation last year in Mexico, before his father was captured by the Mexican military weeks later.
The transfer comes as President Donald Trump continues to threaten U.S. military action against cartels operating in Mexico.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-us-sheinbaum-trump-cartels-3b90e4a7efaf26f8f481dedf5e6423f4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke</a> with Trump last week, saying such an operation would be &#8220;unnecessary.&#8221;

Untitled design – 2026-01-21T151757.955

Dozens Of Mexican Cartel Fugitives Flown To The U.S. To Face Justice

Pam Bondi

US-VENEZUELA-POLITICS-CONFLICT-OIL

LIVE UPDATES: Trump Warns Of Dangers Of Aligning With Venezuelan Opposition, Cites Iraq As Example

Nicolas Maduro

Rubio

Venezuela

Liberals have taken many radical, nonsensical positions in recent years. Few are as baffling as their outrage over President Trump’s removal of Nicolás Maduro, the illegitimate, narco-terrorist dictator of Venezuela — a move the long-suffering citizens of Venezuela are openly cheering.
But not so among progressives, such as the clueless governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, <a href="https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/2007864220017115141?s=20">who claims</a> Trump&#8217;s action was designed, &#8220;To distract from Epstein, the explosion of health and homeowners insurance costs, and the tariffs that are decimating small businesses &#8230;&#8221;
Or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who downplays Maduro’s tyrannical brutality <a href="https://x.com/AOC/status/2007472955882692798">by claiming,</a>&#8221; It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.&#8221;
So, who exactly are Pritzker, AOC, and others of their ilk defending? Why are they saying we should have left him in power?
In 2023, Joe Biden&#8217;s State Department produced a 76-page <a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/528267_VENEZUELA-2023-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf">assessment</a> of specific human rights abuses committed by Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his thugs (many of whom were apparently Cuban mercenaries) against their hapless victims. The assessment documents a staggering range of abuses, including:
<blockquote>&#8230;unlawful or arbitrary killings… enforced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention by security forces… political prisoners… punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative… use of children by illegal armed groups; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists… harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; extensive gender-based violence… trafficking in persons… and the worst forms of child labor.</blockquote>
The report makes for a tough read, given its summation of the viciousness, cruelty, and ruthlessness of Maduro and his henchmen. 
Want more? What about the details in the federal <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl">criminal indictment</a> of Maduro issued by a grand jury in New York?
The superseding indictment charges Maduro and a host of other confederates with running a drug cartel “to import tons of cocaine into the United States.” Makes sense from Maduro’s point of view: his disastrous policies turned Venezuela into an economic basket case, making a once-prosperous country a bankrupt third-world hellhole. Thus, Maduro had to get money from somewhere to line his pockets and finance his depredations.
According to the indictment, Maduro essentially turned the Venezuelan government into a massive drug and illegal weapons smuggling operation, doing everything from using Venezuelan law enforcement to protect his distribution system to issuing “diplomatic passports to drug traffickers” and providing “diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds.”
All of the money was used to enrich himself, his family, and the “political and military elite” who kept him in power. That also included partnering “with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world,” extremely dangerous criminal cartels and terrorist groups that have kidnapped and murdered Americans, like FARC, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, or Cartel del Noreste, and Tren de Aragua.
By the way, the Caribbean drug smugglers that our military has been taking out? Part of the indictment talks about the 200 to 250 tons of cocaine “trafficked” to the U.S. annually by Maduro and his cartel cronies through “maritime shipments…north from Venezuela’s coastline using go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships.” Additionally, “air shipments were often dispatched from clandestine airstrips, typically made of dirt or grass, and also from commercial airports under the control” of Maduro and his corrupt officials.
I don’t think the majority of Americans have a lot of sympathy for the criminals smuggling drugs on these “go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships.”
From the drugs poisoning our citizens, especially our youth, to the citizens of Venezuela who have been censored, arrested, tortured, and killed, Maduro has been a scourge who has caused untold harm and suffering.
The political parties and both sides of the political aisle may disagree on many domestic issues. But when it comes to the removal of Nicolás Maduro Moros, progressives, liberals, and Democrats, along with conservatives and Republicans, should be praising the president for finally taking action to rid our hemisphere of this menace.
* * *
Hans von Spakovsky is a Senior Legal Fellow in the Meese Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-VENEZUELA-POLITICS-TRUMP

Why Are Democrats Defending A Narco-Terrorist Dictator?

Cartels

Democrats

drug boat

Leftists

Liberals

Opinion

Smuggling

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton suggested Sunday that the Trump administration might soon begin to “murder” Americans.
Moulton, who is running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, made the radical claim during an appearance on CNN in which he suggested that the administration’s actions against narcoterrorists in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean may be replicated against Americans.
“The President of the United States and his secretary of Defense are conducting murder on the high seas. They&#8217;re committing murder and Americans should care,” <a href="https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1997768199379505464">said</a> Moulton. “None of us like drug traffickers, but we have laws that say that drug traffickers don&#8217;t get summarily executed, and if it&#8217;s happening off the coast of America with people that we don&#8217;t know, just give it time before Donald Trump starts doing the same kind of thing to people we do know right here at home.”
The administration has declared major drug cartels in South America as terror groups, and positioned roughly 15,000 troops in the Caribbean Sea to combat narcoterrorists trafficking fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States. The U.S. military has destroyed roughly two dozen boats and submarines in international waters that the administration said were trafficking illicit drugs.
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Democrats ramped up criticisms of the Trump administration’s war on drugs after a report from The Washington Post last month claimed that War Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a “kill them all” order carried out against survivors of a destroyed drug-running vessel.
Top military officials have contested the report. Adm. Mitch Bradley said in a closed-door hearing in Congress last week that Hegseth never gave such an order. In one September incident that has become the basis for Democratic claims of war crimes, Bradley made the call to send a follow-up strike against a vessel that he deemed was still a threat.
Democrats have pushed to have the classified video of the follow-up strike made public. Sen. Tom Cotton, who has seen the video, appeared on NBC News on Sunday and said he had “no problem” with releasing it as long as doing so does not risk national security.
“I will say that the [Department of War] may have valid concerns about revealing what we know about tactics and techniques that these cartels are using or about our sources or methods,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-cotton-has-no-problem-with-releasing-video-of-drug-boat-double-tap">said</a> Cotton. “I would trust Secretary Hegseth and his team to make the decision about whether they can declassify and release the video. But again, there’s nothing remarkable on that video in my opinion.”

Seth Moulton

Dem Congressman Suggests Trump Will ‘Murder’ Americans Like Narcoterrorists

Congress

Department of Defense

Department of War

Drugs

Fentanyl

Massachusetts

Pete Hegseth

Politics

GOP Sen. Tom Cotton has no objections to releasing the full video of the U.S. military strike on a drug boat that has become central to Democratic claims of war crimes committed by the Trump administration.
The Arkansas senator appeared on NBC News’ “Meet The Press” on Sunday and defended the actions taken by the U.S. military to curb the flow of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, specifically striking vehicles used to ferry drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
One incident in September has sparked accusations from Democrats that War Secretary Pete Hegseth committed a war crime after a second military strike was ordered on a drug boat that was not destroyed by an initial missile.
The accusations against Hegseth began after The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike/">reported</a> that the War secretary gave an order to “kill them all.” Top military officials have since testified to Congress that no such order was given, and Republican lawmakers who have seen the mission order have said that no such language exists in the order that would direct military personnel to commit war crimes.
Senate Republicans, including Cotton, have also reviewed the footage of the second strike on the drug boat and said that the strike did not constitute a war crime because the vessel, though damaged and capsized, still represented a valid military target and could have been used to call in additional narcoterrorists. Cotton said Sunday that he would have “no problem” releasing the video to the public, though the military may have national security reasons for not wanting the footage public.
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“I personally don&#8217;t have any problem with” releasing the footage, Cotton <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-december-7-2025-n1313135">said</a>. “It&#8217;s not gruesome. I didn&#8217;t find it distressing or disturbing. It looks like any number of dozens of strikes we&#8217;ve seen on Jeeps and pickup trucks in the Middle East over the years.”
“I will say that the department may have valid concerns about revealing what we know about tactics and techniques that these cartels are using or about our sources or methods,” he added. “I would trust Secretary Hegseth and his team to make the decision about whether they can declassify and release the video. But again, there&#8217;s nothing remarkable on that video in my opinion.”
Adm. Mitch Bradley testified to Congress last week, denying that Hegseth gave a “kill them all” order. Bradley said that while Hegseth was present to watch the first strike delivered against the drug boat in September, the War secretary left to attend to other matters. Bradley gave authorization for the second strike after assessing that the vessel was still a threat.
Hegseth’s orders at that point had not <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/even-the-new-york-times-isnt-sold-on-washington-post-hegseth-hit">specified</a> what to do if a drug boat was not completely destroyed in an initial strike, according to reporting from The New York Times.
Democrats have continued to push the story, alleging that Hegseth authorized a war crime and should be held accountable. Lawmakers have also <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/07/second-strike-democratic-lawmakers-demand-transparency-00679899">pushed</a> for release of the video depicting the second strike on the boat and suggested that service members who take part in illegal orders could be formally punished.

Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton Has ‘No Problem’ With Releasing Video Of Drug Boat Double-Tap

Crime

World

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he&#8217;s open to green-lighting strikes inside of Mexico &#8220;to stop drugs&#8221; from crossing into the United States.
Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office about targeting &#8220;narco-terrorists&#8221; in the Caribbean Sea, and said he would be &#8220;okay&#8221; with using that same strategy to take out out drug runners on land — even if they&#8217;re inside of Mexico.
&#8220;Would I launch strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? That&#8217;s okay with me,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Whatever we have to do to stop drugs. I looked at Mexico City over the weekend. There&#8217;s some big problems over there.&#8221;
Asked if he would seek Mexico&#8217;s permission before launching a strike on drug traffickers inside of the country, Trump said, &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t answer that question.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been speaking to Mexico. They know how I stand,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;We have lost hundreds of thousands of people to drugs, so now we&#8217;ve stopped the waterways. We know every route. We know the addresses of every drug lord. We know their address. We know their front door. We know everything about every one of them. They&#8217;re killing our people. That&#8217;s like a war.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;We have lost hundreds of thousands of people a year&#8230; and much of it comes through Mexico. So, let me just put it this way — I am NOT happy with Mexico.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/MzvJreOuEM">pic.twitter.com/MzvJreOuEM</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1990517686544273579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The president said he would be &#8220;proud&#8221; to conduct land strikes on drug cartels, adding that he would &#8220;probably&#8221; go to Congress before striking inside of a foreign country. Trump also discussed potentially hitting &#8220;cocaine factories&#8221; inside of Colombia.
The Trump administration has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans for taking out suspected drug runners in international waters without congressional authorization. Trump has ordered 11 strikes in the Caribbean Sea in the past two months, killing over 80 suspected drug traffickers.
The Trump administration says that at least 85% of drug trafficking through waterways has been stopped following the &#8220;narco-terrorist&#8221; strikes, but most illegal drugs are <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/fentanyl-smuggling/">snuck</a> into the United States on land, coming in through ports of entry. Most fentanyl trafficked into the United States comes from Mexico or China and is driven across the U.S. southern border in passenger vehicles, <a href="https://www.gao.gov/blog/fentanyl-continues-be-leading-cause-overdose-deaths.-whats-being-done-combat-trafficking-united-states">according</a> to the Government Accountability Office.
Mexico has said that it would not approve of U.S. military operations on its soil.
“We reject any form of intervention or interference. That’s been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-04-08/mexico-warns-against-potential-u-s-drone-strikes-on-cartels">said</a> in April.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-planning-new-mission-mexico-cartels-current-forme-rcna241167">reported</a> earlier this month that the Trump administration is considering <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-may-send-u-s-troops-to-mexico-to-target-cartels">deploying troops</a> to Mexico to target drug cartels with drones. Six Mexican cartels were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the State Department just weeks after Trump was sworn in for his second term.

‘Whatever We Have To Do’: Trump Says He’s ‘OK’ With Striking Inside Mexico ‘To Stop Drugs’

Global Politics

Military

The Trump administration is reportedly floating plans to send U.S. troops to Mexico to strike cartel footholds with drones.
If the plans are approved, troops and intelligence officers would be deployed to conduct ground operations in Mexico while hitting drug labs, cartel members, and kingpins, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-planning-new-mission-mexico-cartels-current-forme-rcna241167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, citing two current U.S. officials and two former U.S. officials.
“The Trump administration is committed to utilizing an all-of-government approach to address the threats cartels pose to American citizens,” a senior administration official told NBC.
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Many of the troops would come from the Joint Special Operations Command, serving under the authority of the intelligence community, according to the report. CIA officers would also play a role.
The mission, which has yet to receive final approval, would be carried out in secrecy, unlike recent strikes the Trump administration has carried out near the Venezuelan coast.
It could also be done with or without the support of the Mexican government, which previously expressed disapproval of similar plans that were reported in April. However, the Trump administration would prefer to work alongside Mexican authorities, according to NBC.
“We reject any form of intervention or interference. That’s been very clear, Mexico coordinates and collaborates, but does not subordinate itself,” Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum said at the time.
The Trump administration has carried out more than a dozen strikes in recent months on alleged drug boats in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-precision-strikes-on-venezuela-military-could-begin-within-hours">Caribbean</a> and the Eastern Pacific. President Donald Trump recently confirmed that he&#8217;s authorized secret CIA operations on Venezuelan soil.
The State Department designated six of Mexico&#8217;s cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in February, opening the door for a crackdown on violence and drug trafficking in the region.
The Department of War didn&#8217;t immediately respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment.

Untitled design (86)

Trump Admin May Send U.S. Troops To Mexico To Target Cartels

Trump Admin Looking To Carry Out Drone Strikes On Cartels In Mexico: Report

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth dispatched the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group toward South America on Friday, as the United States continues to take out suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea and President Donald Trump hints at striking targets on land.
The aircraft carrier strike group will assist in disrupting &#8220;narcotics trafficking&#8221; and countering &#8220;narco-terrorism&#8221; in the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of responsibility, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a <a href="https://x.com/SeanParnellASW/status/1981759934539985132">post</a> on X. The SOUTHCOM region encompasses all of Central and South America, along with the Caribbean.
&#8220;The enhanced U.S. force presence &#8230; will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs [Transnational Criminal Organizations].
The USS Gerald Ford, America&#8217;s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier, is the flagship for Carrier Strike Group 12. The Strike Group also <a href="https://www.c2f.usff.navy.mil/csg12/">includes</a> a Carrier Air Wing, a Cruiser, and Destroyers. The carrier group is set to join eight other American ships in the region, CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-aircraft-carrier-latin-america-uss-gerald-ford/">reported</a>. The growing U.S. military presence near South America is part of Trump&#8217;s effort to take out drug cartels and prevent deadly drugs from reaching American shores.
Trump has ordered <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/narco-terrorists-u-s-destroys-tren-de-aragua-drug-boat-in-caribbean-hegseth-says">10 strikes</a> against suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea, killing at least 43 people, while two other suspected cartel members have been captured. The president said on Wednesday that he would continue taking out suspected drug boats, adding that land strikes are &#8220;going to be next.&#8221;
Trump said that the United States is &#8220;totally prepared&#8221; to hit targets seeking to traffic drugs into the United States by land.
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&#8220;They&#8217;ll be coming in by land a little bit more because they&#8217;re not coming in by boat anymore. There are no boats in the water. There are no more boats,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/Breaking911/status/1981115684051702183">said</a>, adding, &#8220;And we will hit them very hard when they come in by land.&#8221;
The president&#8217;s boat strikes have focused on suspected cartel members coming out of Venezuela, enraging Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, who claims that the United States is seeking to force him out of power. Maduro has called the strikes “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country.”
Some lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have expressed concern about Trump&#8217;s strikes on suspected drug runners, arguing that Congress must grant approval before the administration uses the military to target suspected narco-terrorists in international waters. Most Democrats and some Republicans have called for more oversight of the Trump administration&#8217;s military actions in the Caribbean.
Republican Senators Mike Rounds (SD), Thom Tillis (NC), Todd Young (IN), and Susan Collins (ME), have all made public calls for more Congressional oversight on the strikes.
“This is a legitimate discussion between the two branches of government that we should always be having,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/us/politics/republicans-trump-drug-war.html">said</a> Tillis. “I think we’ve got to be very careful when you’re talking about ordering a kinetic strike.”
Senators Rand Paul (KY) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) have taken their opposition to Trump&#8217;s strikes a step further, joining with most Democrats earlier this month in an effort to pass a measure stopping the military action. Paul introduced the measure alongside Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), but it ultimately failed. Rounds, Young, Tillis, and Collins all voted against the measure, as did Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
Trump said on Thursday that he doesn&#8217;t need to ask for a declaration of war to carry out the strikes.
“I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them, you know? They are going to be, like, dead,&#8221; he said.
He <a href="https://x.com/amconmag/status/1981462145112879262">added</a> that he might &#8220;go to Congress&#8221; to inform them about the land strikes, saying, &#8220;I can&#8217;t imagine they would have any problem.&#8221;
The Trump administration has told the American people that the strikes are conducted based on credible intelligence that marks the targets as cartel members.

USS Gerald Ford

U.S. Deploys Largest Aircraft Carrier To South America As Trump Hints At Land Strikes Against Cartels

U.S. Sends Largest Aircraft Carrier Toward South America As Trump Hints At Land Strikes Against Cart

U.S. Military

U.S. forces carried out a tenth strike on a suspected drug boat, killing six Tren de Aragua &#8220;narco-terrorists&#8221; Thursday night in the Caribbean, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.
The &#8220;lethal kinetic strike&#8221; was the first to take place in the dead of night. It comes as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-drug-boat-blown-to-pieces-after-ninth-u-s-strike-on-narco-terrorists?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Another+Drug+Boat+Blown+To+Pieces+After+Ninth+U.S.+Strike+On+%E2%80%98Narco-Terrorists%E2%80%99">Trump</a> administration ramps up a campaign of pressure against the Venezuelan regime over drug trafficking in the region.
&#8220;The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,&#8221; Hegseth wrote on X of the hit, which took place in international waters.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea.
The vessel was known by our… <a href="https://t.co/lVlw0FLBv4">pic.twitter.com/lVlw0FLBv4</a>
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/1981706596972372446?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you,&#8221; he added.
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Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, on whom the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-hikes-bounty-on-venezuelas-maduro-to-50m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placed</a> a $50 million bounty, labeled the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-drug-boat-blown-to-pieces-after-ninth-u-s-strike-on-narco-terrorists?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Another+Drug+Boat+Blown+To+Pieces+After+Ninth+U.S.+Strike+On+%E2%80%98Narco-Terrorists%E2%80%99">strikes</a> as “a military attack on civilians who were not at war and were not militarily threatening any country,” while accusing Trump of “seeking a regime change” in the Latin American country.
Trump has signed off on a covert CIA operation in Venezuela against Maduro, who he believes is complicit in the drug trafficking campaign.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/b-1-bombers-buzz-venezuela-as-trump-floats-land-strikes-against-drug-cartels">B-1 bombers</a> also flew within 50 miles of Venezuela in a massive show of force Thursday.
U.S. Air Force and Marines flew B-52 bombers and F-35B jet fighters last week near an island off the coast of Venezuela in a show of force.
Trump said Thursday that drug trafficking along waterways has plummeted as a result of U.S. military strikes.
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“Now, they’re coming in by land, and even the land is concerned because I told them that’s going to be next,” the president <a href="https://x.com/JewishWarrior13/status/1981470436345938164" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We may go to the Congress and tell them about it, but I can’t imagine they would have any problem with it. I think, in fact, while we’re here, I think it’s a good idea, Pete, you go to Congress, you tell them about it. What are they going to do? Say, ‘gee, we don’t want to stop drugs pouring in?’ They’re killing 300,000 people per year.”
On Wednesday, Maduro claimed that thousands of Russian-made anti-air missiles are at the ready to handle threats.
“Any military force in the world knows the power of the Igla-S and Venezuela has no less than 5,000” of the missiles, Maduro said, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/americas/maduro-trump-venezuela-military-intl-hnk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.
Trump said last week that Maduro desperately offered “everything” to the U.S.
“He’s offered everything,” <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1979251067029246356" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Trump. “You know why? Because he doesn’t want to f*** around with the United States.”
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Untitled design (78)

‘Narco-Terrorists’: U.S. Destroys Tren De Aragua Drug Boat In Caribbean, Hegseth Says

Tren De Aragua

The FBI unveils a massive, mafia-tied gambling scheme involving big names in the NBA, the United States strikes another drug boat bringing “poison to our shores,” and sparks fly at the final debate for New York City mayor — but will it sway the race?
It’s Friday, October 24, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">NBA Gambling Ring</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-990669" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Basketball-Betting-Bust-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Basketball-Betting-Bust-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Basketball-Betting-Bust-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Basketball-Betting-Bust-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Basketball-Betting-Bust-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Basketball-Betting-Bust.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: A sprawling NBA gambling scandal was announced on Thursday, resulting in dozens of arrests, including former and current NBA players, coaches, and members of the Italian mafia.
The alleged scheme involved more than 30 people arrested, including Miami Heat point guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, a former player in the Hall of Fame. 
Charges from the investigation included wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, and illegal gambling. 
“The FBI led a coordinative take down across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a press conference. “We also entered and executed a system of justice against Laca Nora to include the Bonanno Gambino Genevese and Luccese crime families.”
First indictment: The case involves two separate indictments. The first relates to an insider betting scheme. Defendants charged in this scheme allegedly received non-public information, such as when players would be sitting out for injuries or planned absences, and used that to profit from gambling bets. 
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“One example occurred on March 23, 2023, in Charlotte, Terry Rozier, an NBA player now with the Miami Heat, but at the time playing for the Hornets, allegedly let others close to him know that he planned to leave the game early with a supposed injury,” said NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Using that information, members of the group placed more than $200,000 in wagers on his under statistics.&#8221;
Rozier exited the game after just nine minutes. The bets paid out tens of thousands of dollars in profit.
Second indictment: The second indictment relates to mafia-backed fixed poker games, where more than $7 million was cheated. This included new technology, such as an X-ray table that could read cards face down. Current or former NBA players like Billups were used to draw people into rigged games.
“The defendants in this case orchestrated a scheme to use wireless cheating technology to run rigged poker games across the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella. “What the victims, the fish, didn&#8217;t know is that everybody else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the face cards, were in on the scam. Once the game was underway, the defendants fleece the victims out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.”
The poker games played in the New York area were backed by at least four of the five mafia families there.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Drug Boat Strikes And Russia Sanctions</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-990667" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Drug-Boat-Dusted-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Drug-Boat-Dusted-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Drug-Boat-Dusted-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Drug-Boat-Dusted-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Drug-Boat-Dusted-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Drug-Boat-Dusted.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The U.S. military carried out its ninth strike against what it said was a drug boat from a known terrorist entity heading toward the United States. Meanwhile, President Trump has imposed new sanctions on Russia for the first time since he returned to the Oval Office.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that the military carried out its eighth and ninth strikes against drug boats. These strikes took place in the Pacific Ocean, a first. Up until now, the strikes have been targeted in the Caribbean, which is a known smuggling corridor for narcotraffickers in Venezuela and Colombia.
Latin American resistance: The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, called to potentially “get rid” of Trump over his campaign of pressure. Trump has accused Petro of playing a role in the drug trade and has pulled U.S. funding to Colombia.
On Thursday, Trump responded to the Colombian president’s threats, saying that the Latin American leader is a “thug and bad guy” who should “watch it.”
For now, the strikes will continue, Hegseth says.
Sanctions on Russia: The Treasury Department has now announced new sanctions on Russia for the first time in Trump’s second term. The sanctions target Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as dozens of their subsidiaries.
The sanctions came alongside additional penalties from the European Union, as well as more from the U.K., announced last week. President Trump’s new pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin was a welcome move in Washington and in Europe.
“You have to compel Russia to engage in the peace process,” <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1981329802754769164">said</a> House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). “They&#8217;ve shown they cannot be trusted. There&#8217;s a big appetite in Congress to have sanctions like this, and I think it&#8217;s a very important step.”
More important than the sanctions themselves is the message they convey. In its announcement of the sanctions package, the Treasury also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-sanctioning-russian-energy-heres-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> secondary sanctions against any entity that does business with Rosneft and Lukoil.
Trump on San Francisco: Trump has reversed course on sending National Guard troops to San Francisco. He said in a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115424560133045127">post</a> on Thursday that “friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress.” He said he spoke to Lurie, a moderate Democrat who took office in January, and decided to give him a chance to turn the city around – which means Trump could change his mind in the future if he doesn’t like what he sees in San Francisco.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Mamdani Cracks In Second NYC Debate</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-990665" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mamdani-Melts-Onstage-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mamdani-Melts-Onstage-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mamdani-Melts-Onstage-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mamdani-Melts-Onstage-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mamdani-Melts-Onstage-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mamdani-Melts-Onstage.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The frontrunner in New York’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani, faced a barrage of criticism in the final televised debate on Wednesday, raising questions about whether his performance managed to shake his lead or reinforce doubts about his readiness for the job.
The atmosphere of the race was definitely charged—not just because of the policies on the table, but also because of the direct, unrelenting pressure former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo put on Mamdani.
Polls show that while Mamdani is far and away the favorite to win, some also show he would be in a dead heat with Cuomo if Republican Curtis Sliwa were to drop out of the race.
Many media outlets and analysts said Mamdani looked uncomfortable and hesitant. He also appeared severely rushed. Some of his responses felt like watching a video at double speed.
However, some left-leaning outlets, such as Politico, said Mamdani won. The New York Times said Cuomo hurt him, but probably not enough. But the viral clips from the debate have received brutal responses, painting Mamdani as an unprepared left-wing extremist.
The debate: One of the most damaging moments circulating on social media came when Cuomo directly confronted Mamdani on his inexperience. 
“You have never had a job. You&#8217;ve never accomplished anything. There&#8217;s no reason to believe you have any merit or qualification for eight and a half million lives. You don&#8217;t know how to run a government, you don&#8217;t know how to handle an emergency, and you&#8217;ve literally never proposed a bill on anything that you&#8217;re not talking about,” Cuomo <a href="https://x.com/EYakoby/status/1981146015714726293">ripped</a> into Mamdani.
“In your campaign, you had the worst attendance record in the assembly, and you gave yourselves the highest raise in the United States of America. You went from $110,000 to $140,000, and then you never showed up for work, and you missed 80% of the votes. Shame on you,” he continued.
Cuomo also pinned Mamdani down on the rent freeze policy, labeling it as political blather.
“Zohran is a great actor. He missed his calling. Freeze rent sounds great, yeah, it affects about 25% of the number of housing units in the city of New York. It&#8217;s not a new idea. Bill de Blasio did it. It turned out to be a debacle,” Cuomo <a href="https://x.com/nypost/status/1981152739963945271">said</a>.
Often, Mamdani didn’t help himself. For example, when he suggested that when 911 receives a call, dispatchers should decide whether it’s appropriate to send police, or maybe send mental healthcare providers instead.
“Yet what we have in our city is asking those same police officers who are being asked to respond to shootings, respond to murders, to also respond to these calls. I trust the dispatchers who would be receiving these calls to make the determination as to whether there was any indication of violence. If there is no indication of a threat of violence, then we would set the mental health experts and providers to respond to those same incidents,” <a href="https://x.com/EYakoby/status/1981149365818585538">said</a> Mamdani.
How bad was it?: Polling data is still being analyzed, so it’s really too early to tell. But it’s interesting to note that there are reports that Chinese-owned TikTok appears to be pulling out all the stops for Mamdani now, maybe trying to head off any leaks of support.
The New York Post reported that TikTok’s algorithm has been boosting pro-Mamdani content while suppressing pro-Cuomo clips.

MRN_251024_V1

Morning Brief: FBI Uncovers An NBA-Tied Gambling Ring & Trump Takes Out Another Drug Boat

Andrew Cuomo

Colombia

kash patel

Media

Morning Wire

New York City

Russia

San Francisco

United States

Zohran Mamdani

B-1 bombers flew within about 50 miles from Venezuela on Thursday as the United States continues to strike drug boats departing from the South American country.
Asked about the flights during a panel discussion at the White House on Thursday, Trump denied that two B-1 Lancers had flown close to Venezuela.
“Not accurate,” said Trump when asked about a report of the flights published in <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-sends-b-1-bombers-near-venezuela-ramping-up-military-pressure-f9514126?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqct8eI22sfNUn8PGvMT7DHl2W8B7iN_X8snWbnKrunmfqdpycQEz-Md4hUOGko%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68fa9ec4&amp;gaa_sig=IV4Xvw66NaSXyHKSBQjdViniRSys-tsUYH-1XlguDWBRDhGAxnZ31FHaVYEEJbFRHkAQpSgCqiEJ3InLUBUiVA%3D%3D">The Wall Street Journal</a>. “No, it’s false, but we&#8217;re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons. Drugs being one of them.”
The flights have been <a href="https://x.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1981454534548341183">tracked</a> on flight radars. The two bombers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on Thursday and flew near Venezuela, but remained over international waters, according to WSJ.
The flights followed a show of force last week when B-52 bombers and F-35B jet fighters operated by the U.S. Air Force and Marines flew near an island off the coast of Venezuela.
The U.S. military has blown up at least seven boats in international waters in the Caribbean said to be carrying deadly drugs to the United States, and another two boats in the Pacific. President Donald Trump has accused the leadership of Venezuela and Colombia of facilitating the transport of drugs in the United States.
Trump said on Thursday that drugs coming to the United States by water have plummeted because of military action, and he suggested that strikes could soon be conducted against drug cartels and narco-terrorists on land, as well.
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“Now, they’re coming in by land, and even the land is concerned because I told them that’s going to be next,” the president <a href="https://x.com/JewishWarrior13/status/1981470436345938164">said</a>. “We may go to the Congress and tell them about it, but I can’t imagine they would have any problem with it. I think, in fact, while we’re here, I think it’s a good idea, Pete, you go to Congress, you tell them about it. What are they going to do? Say, ‘gee, we don’t want to stop drugs pouring in?’ They’re killing 300,000 people per year.”
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, on whom the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-hikes-bounty-on-venezuelas-maduro-to-50m">placed</a> a $50 million bounty, claimed on Wednesday that thousands of Russian-made anti-air missiles are placed strategically around the country to handle any threats from the air.
“Any military force in the world knows the power of the Igla-S and Venezuela has no less than 5,000” of the missiles, Maduro said, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/americas/maduro-trump-venezuela-military-intl-hnk">CNN</a>.
Last week, Trump said that Maduro has offered “everything” to the United States.
“He’s offered everything,” <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1979251067029246356">said</a> Trump. “You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to f*** around with the United States.”

B-1B Bombers

B-1 Bombers Buzz Venezuela As Trump Floats ‘Land’ Strikes Against Drug Cartels

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