President Trump brokers several monumental deals in Asia, the U.S. ramps up its military presence in the Caribbean, and we get an expert opinion on the state of the Trump economy.
It’s Monday, October 27, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251027-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Strikes Trade Deals In Asia</h2>
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Topline: President Trump landed in Asia on Sunday to kick off a whirlwind diplomatic tour aimed at securing new trade deals and peace treaties.
Trump arrived in Malaysia, the first stop on his tour of South Asia, which will also include visits to Japan and South Korea.
The main goal of the trip is to lock down more trade deals and open up access to Asian markets. Within hours of his arrival in Malaysia, the president announced new trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Each country will eliminate the vast majority of existing tariffs on U.S. imports, and the latter two will allow for unprecedented American investments in rare earth mineral production.
While this trip was focused on trade, the president also signed a ceasefire deal between Cambodia and Thailand, two longtime foes who were on the brink of war this summer after fighting broke out over a border dispute. Under this new agreement, the two sides will pull back military forces from the border and exchange POWs.
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“I love doing it. I shouldn’t say it’s a hobby, because it’s so much more serious than a hobby — but it’s something that I’m good at and it’s something I love to do,” <a href="https://x.com/clashreport/status/1982325118300004784">said</a> Trump.
Meeting Xi: This trip will be defined by Trump’s sit-down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The two will meet face-to-face on Thursday for the first time since 2019. Ahead of that high-stakes showdown, Trump expressed optimism regarding a “comprehensive deal” that could end the tit-for-tat trade war that’s lasted all year and resulted in unprecedented tariff rates exceeding 100%.
Ahead of that sit-down, officials from both sides have been meeting virtually non-stop this week to hammer out the framework for a potential deal. Beijing says a “basic consensus” has been reached and that the two sides “engaged in candid, in-depth, and constructive exchanges.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump’s Moves Against Drug Trade In South America</h2>
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Topline: President Trump ordered the most advanced U.S. aircraft carrier group to the Caribbean last week as he floated the possibility of strikes against drug cartels on land. And the Trump administration placed sanctions on the president of Colombia as tensions continue to rise with the erstwhile U.S. ally.
Venezuela: President Trump moved the USS Gerald R Ford carrier group to join the forces already stationed in the Caribbean. The Ford carrier group is the largest in the U.S. military, so this is an aggressive signal from the president that he isn’t satisfied with a few drug boats blown up here and there.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on CBS’ &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; on Sunday and said he had spoken to President Trump about potential land strikes in South America.
“I think that’s a real possibility,” <a href="https://x.com/FaceTheNation/status/1982479665525613037">said</a> Graham. “I think President Trump has made a decision that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug trafficker, that it’s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long.”
Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro said last week that there are 5,000 Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles stationed around the country to defend the airspace. He also said that “millions of men and women with rifles would march across the country” if the United States were to attack on Venezuelan soil.
Colombia: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his family on Friday. Bessent said in a statement that Petro “has allowed drug cartels to flourish and refused to stop this activity.”
Colombian officials have pushed back, pointing to continued interdiction of cocaine &#8212; but the country’s coca fields have grown continuously since Petro took power in 2022. Trump’s moves against Colombia have received support from Republicans representing sizable communities of Colombian Americans.
“Colombia is once again the number one producer of coke in the world. Colombians don&#8217;t deserve that,” <a href="https://x.com/RepMariaSalazar/status/1982503947744243931">said</a> Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar. “President Trump has a responsibility to stop drugs coming into this country.”
<h2 style="text-align: center;">E.J. Antoni On Inflation and Trump’s Trade Deals</h2>
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Topline: The latest economic report shows inflation slightly cooler than experts predicted at 0.3% rather than the predicted 0.4%. The White House is touting the numbers as yet more proof that Trump’s economic plan is working.
Morning Wire spoke with economist E.J. Antoni of the Heritage Foundation. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: First, big picture – we&#8217;re nine months into Trump&#8217;s second term. How is the economy doing?
Antoni: I&#8217;d say the best way to describe it is that it&#8217;s in the midst of a transition, right? For basically the last two years of the Biden administration, you had a labor market that was being propped up in a lot of ways by government hiring. That&#8217;s gone away. In fact, it&#8217;s been replaced with government firings. And the result of that is a drag on the overall jobs numbers, right? In the same way, when you look at something like the way we measure the economy through gross domestic product or GDP, you had government purchases which were accounting for a very large percentage of that. That&#8217;s all gone away. In fact, it&#8217;s been replaced by a reduction in those government purchases, which is a drag on the headline number. What I&#8217;m trying to get at here is, as the government re-privatizes, as the Treasury Secretary says, you will see what looks like sluggish growth – which I think we&#8217;re in right now – but in reality is actually a returning to health. It&#8217;s almost like the chemotherapy that makes you feel really lousy, but gets rid of your cancer.
Morning Wire: The inflation numbers were a little bit cooler than projected. How do you feel about the state of inflation right now?
Antoni: Pretty good, especially since the number one driver of inflation in that CPI report for the month of September was gasoline prices going up so much, except that increase has completely reversed in the first three weeks of October. Now, prices are actually slightly lower than they were in most markets. We should expect the next CPI report – if we can even get it, it&#8217;s unclear because the government shut down – but if we could get it, we would expect even cooler CPI numbers.
Morning Wire: Treasury data show the tariff collection has really surged in recent months. What is the net effect of Trump&#8217;s tariff plan thus far in the economy? Are they working as advertised?
Antoni: Well, I guess it depends on how we want to say as advertised, right? … But here are the facts. They&#8217;re bringing in way more revenue than anticipated to the Treasury. We can certainly have a debate over who is paying for those tariffs. But, the fact is they&#8217;re bringing in billions of dollars in revenue, in fact, hundreds of billions of dollars when you annualize it. That&#8217;s one of the reasons why September had the biggest surplus ever for the month of September in terms of the Treasury monthly statement. It was because not only have we seen a reduction in overall government spending, but an increase in revenues, overall revenues of course, because the economy&#8217;s growing, but also specifically from customs duties, which are from the increase in tariffs.
Morning Wire: Is the reshoring effect — like Stellantis moving some production to the U.S. — is that a real trend or just a few isolated incidents?
Antoni: It’s certainly a real trend, but it is being blunted to a certain extent right now. You are seeing help to the manufacturing sector, and that some of it is being re-shored. But you&#8217;re also seeing, at least in the short term, some pain inflicted on manufacturing because, again, some of the things being tariffed are actually inputs. You&#8217;re making it more expensive, let&#8217;s say, for a car manufacturer to buy steel from abroad for the time being. Now, once that steel gets re-shored back to the United States and you can buy it domestically, then it&#8217;s a moot point, right? But at least for the time being, you&#8217;re having competing effects there where one is helping, the other is hurting.
Morning Wire: Final question, we&#8217;re about to wrap up the year with a couple months left here. What do you project to happen big-picture with the economy over the next few months?
Antoni: I think we&#8217;re going to continue to see some of these very positive trends with economic growth where, although the public sector, the government is shrinking, we&#8217;re going to continue to see growth in the productive private sector. And in particular, one of the reasons why I&#8217;m so optimistic here is that the growth we have seen thus far this year, which I think will continue, has been driven by increases in earnings, not simply increases in debt. … Their money is going further because earnings growth is outpacing inflation. That&#8217;s a very positive development.

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Morning Brief: Trump’s Asia Blitz & Military Build-Up In The Caribbean

Cambodia

China

Colombia

Donald Trump

Inflation

Lindsey Graham

Morning Wire

Tariffs

Thailand

Venezuela

Xi Jinping

President Donald Trump may order land strikes on Venezuela and other parts of South America in pursuit of drug cartels without congressional authority, according to South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Graham appeared on CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday and defended Trump’s suggestion last week that land strikes may be the next step after the U.S. military blew up 10 drug boats and submarines in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
“I think that&#8217;s a real possibility,” said Graham on the potential for U.S. strikes on land in South America. “I think President Trump has made a decision that Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, is an indicted drug trafficker, that it&#8217;s time for him to go, that Venezuela and Colombia have been safe havens for narco-terrorists for too long.”
“I support that idea, but I think he has all the authority he needs,” Graham added after noting that Trump is expected to brief Congress on possible military operations in and around South America when he returns from a trip to Asia later this week.
The South Carolina senator cited operations ordered by former presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. The missions, which took place in Panama and Grenada, are precedents that should set the legal foundation for any land strikes against drug cartels ordered unilaterally by Trump.
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“When President Bush 41 took Ortega out in Panama, Reagan went into Grenada to deal with the Cuban influence from Grenada in our backyard – [Trump] has all the authority in the world,” said Graham. “This is not murder. This is protecting America from being poisoned by narco-terrorists coming from Venezuela and Colombia.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
U.S. land strikes on Venezuela are “a real possibility,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says, telling <a href="https://twitter.com/margbrennan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@margbrennan</a> President Trump plans to brief Congress about potentially expanding the U.S. military operations “from the sea to the land.”
“I support that idea. But I think he has… <a href="https://t.co/q7iBG7D0H7">pic.twitter.com/q7iBG7D0H7</a>
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/FaceTheNation/status/1982479665525613037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
Graham’s comments come days after the administration announced the U.S.S. Gerald Ford aircraft carrier group would move to the Caribbean. The Ford is the newest and most technologically advanced carrier in the U.S. fleet, signaling the seriousness with which the White House is approaching its fight against drug cartels and terror networks that are flooding the United States with dangerous and illicit drugs.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the Ford’s latest assignment in a <a href="https://x.com/SeanParnellASW/status/1981759934539985132">post</a> on X.
The aircraft carrier group “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,” said Parnell in a statement.

USS Gerald R. Ford

Lindsey Graham Says Trump ‘Has All The Authority He Needs’ To Strike Venezuela

Global Politics

Nicolas Maduro

United States

World

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

Drug Cartels

Pete Hegseth

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

Tren De Aragua

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

A Tren de Aragua gang member who was seen in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-shows-armed-men-walking-through-co-apt-building-after-official-warned-of-venezuelan-gang-takeover">viral video</a> last year, armed and forcing his way into an Aurora, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-wanted-in-brutal-colorado-kidnapping-caught-hiding-in-chicago">Colorado</a>, apartment complex taken over by the gang, was handed a 12-year prison sentence.
Niefred Serpa-Acosta was involved in the armed break-in at the Edge at Lowry apartments on Aug. 18, 2024, as well as a brutal kidnapping of a couple at the complex the following December. An Arapahoe County judge sentenced Serpa-Acosta last month after he entered a guilty plea, <a href="https://www.9news.com/article/news/crime/man-pleads-guilty-viral-aurora-apartment-video/73-33799e28-2622-4b76-8d03-24128e678741" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to 9 News.
Minutes after the armed gang members stormed the apartments, a fatal shooting took place, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/aurora-crime-involving-venezuelans-police-arrest-warrants-men-shooting-12th-dallas-street/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to CBS Denver</a>.
The Venezuelan gang member, however, successfully fled the scene.
Police in Aurora later captured Serpa-Acosta, who was dressed as a woman and wearing a wig, for his role in the couple&#8217;s kidnapping which the woman was pistol-whipped and the husband was stabbed in the thigh.
He later pleaded guilty to a burglary with intent to menace and assault the people inside the apartment and to using a weapon during the attack, according to 9 News.
<div id="attachment_988903" style="width: 176px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-988903" class="wp-image-988903 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-63-1.jpg" alt="" width="166" height="225" />Mugshot of Niefred Serpa-Acosta (Credit: Aurora Police Department)</div>
When Serpa-Acosta took part in the apartment takeover with five others, he was already ordered deported by an immigration judge, Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire. The Biden administration released him from ICE custody a month before and after he had already racked up two arrests for theft.
It is likely that Serpa-Acosta couldn&#8217;t be deported because the Biden administration was unable to force Venezuela to accept removal flights. Shortly after entering office, the Trump administration brokered a deal with the Maduro regime to resume the flights.
Serpa-Acosta also admitted his gang ties to the feds and had the organization&#8217;s signature tattoos, the sources said.
The illegal immigrant crossed the border into El Paso, Texas, in December 2022 and was set to be turned back to Mexico, but he was eventually released into the U.S.
He was arrested in June 2023 in Lakewood, Colorado, for theft before he was again released. He then turned up in Fort Collins, where he was arrested in April 2024 for another theft.
He was eventually let go again and arrested for a third time for resisting an officer, obstructing police, and larceny in another Denver suburb; ICE then took him into custody.
All the while, officials in Colorado, including Democratic Gov. Jared <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/08/29/us-news/colorado-gov-jared-polis-dismisses-migrant-gang-takeover-of-aurora-apartments-as-imagination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Polis</a>, denied the gang&#8217;s takeover of apartment complexes in Aurora.
While on the campaign trail, President Donald <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/10/11/trump-operation-aurora-targeting-undocumented-criminals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump</a> pledged to carry out &#8220;Operation Aurora&#8221; to target the gang&#8217;s foothold in the Denver suburb. Immigration raids soon took place in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-targets-over-100-venezuelan-gang-members-in-raid-at-aurora-colorado-apartment-complex">Colorado</a>, resulting in the arrests of dozens of gang members.

Screenshot: Vicente Arenas – X

Tren De Aragua Member Caught On Video Breaking Into Colorado Apartment Gets 12-Year Prison Sentence

Colorado

illegal immigrant

President Donald Trump locks in a critical deal with Australia as he presses on several foreign policy fronts, the administration ramps up the Caribbean war on drugs, and a Christian couple loses their foster care license over gender theory.
It’s Tuesday, October 21, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">White House Roundup</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-988769" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-768x433.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Trumps-Balancing-Act-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The weekend protesters may have cleared out, but it’s shaping up to be another wild week in Washington – with a major presidential focus on foreign policy. 
Ukraine: President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday. While it wasn’t their most contentious meeting, Trump seems less bullish on Ukraine since his recent conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump suggested that he’s not ready yet to provide Ukraine with the Tomahawk missiles they’ve requested.
Australia: On a more positive note, Trump had a productive meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday.
The two leaders signed a critical minerals and rare earths deal. Under the agreement, the United States and Australian governments will invest more than $3 billion in critical mineral projects over the next six months, “with recoverable resources in the projects estimated to be worth $53 billion,” according to the White House.
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The deal also includes a lot of burden sharing and making new defense investments that will strengthen the alliance between the United States and Australia.
On the home front: The president recently decided to weigh in on upcoming elections. Trump made a late-breaking endorsement of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears for Virginia governor.
The endorsement of Earle-Sears comes when the race is tightening because of a scandal lower down on the ballot with the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, Jay Jones.
In New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, Trump has endorsed Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
The New Jersey race is also tightening up significantly. Ciattarelli came close to winning in 2021. Trump endorsed him in May because Ciattarelli was in a primary battle then.
Shutdown showdown: The shutdown shows no sign of ending soon. Rumors on Capitol Hill suggest rank-and-file Democrats want to negotiate an “off-ramp” with Republicans, but no one has said what that looks like. The posture of the situation is best described as a waiting period to see what Democrats will do.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump&#8217;s War On Narco-Terrorists</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-988771" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-768x433.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Crackdown-In-The-Caribbean-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The Trump administration is massively escalating its counternarcotics campaign in the Caribbean against suspected drug traffickers. 
Venezuela: The Trump administration saw the destruction that occurred to the United States under the Biden presidency when it came to opening up our borders. According to Trump, that pulled countries like Venezuela to send in prisoners, gangbangers, and narcotraffickers, and the president says he wants that to end for good.
Trump is pressuring the Maduro regime by carrying out dramatic kinetic strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and sending the message that there is a new sheriff in town.
Former DEA Attache for Venezuela Wes Tabor told The Daily Wire that the pressure is so extreme that he doesn’t see Maduro staying in power much longer.
“There&#8217;s an internal pressure that&#8217;s boiling between Nicolas Maduro and between the Estado Alliance, who is basically the head of the military and also in the Senate. And he has a lot of power with the military, whereas Maduro is the figurehead. He&#8217;s the president. Those two are battling it out right now in the country,” said Tabor.
“I&#8217;ve heard rumors from my sources in Venezuela,” he continued. “They&#8217;re saying, you know, there have been a few times that Nicolas Maduro was thinking about bugging out.”
Colombia: Trump wants Colombia to be wary of becoming the next Venezuela — signaling that the United States could take a stricter stance against Bogotá and its leadership if the government refuses to cooperate with his administration. The Colombian president is slowly chipping away at the longstanding relationship with a United States that has cracked down on cocaine production.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Anti-Christian Foster Care Case</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-988773" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-300x168.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-768x431.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-1536x862.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Mass.-Fostering-Prejudice-2048x1150.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The state of Massachusetts has revoked the license of foster parents Lydia and Heath Marvin, both Christians, after the couple refused to sign a “gender-affirming” policy. The couple is now taking legal action, claiming religious discrimination.
The Marvins: The Marvins have been fostering children since 2020, primarily infants and toddlers with medical needs or special challenges – the kind of children few homes are equipped to handle. Their record shows they accepted cases others turned down.
In April, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) revoked their fostering license. The stated reason: the Marvins declined to sign the state’s revised LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Policy — specifically a section requiring foster parents to affirm a child’s gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Marvins argue that signing would conflict with their sincerely held Christian convictions. They’ve initiated legal action, claiming religious discrimination and violation of their First Amendment rights.
The DCF: DCF officials insist their duty is to protect children. In their view, that means placing kids only in homes that will affirm their gender identity and sexual orientation.
Step back: Critics such as journalist and child-welfare expert Naomi Schaefer Riley say the state has lost sight of the bigger mission.
“A lot of these states have just really lost sight of the goal there — which should be providing as many options for safe, loving homes as possible to these kids,” Riley told The Daily Wire.
Riley, who has written extensively on family policy, says this case fits a growing national pattern where religious foster families feel pressured to abandon their beliefs or stop fostering altogether. That’s a serious problem because, according to a <a href="https://cafo.org/faith-foster-care-and-the-surprising-path-to-flourishing/#:~:text=This%20week%2C%20the%20Institute%20for,11%25)">study</a> released just last month, Christians are more than three times more likely to foster a child compared to those with no religious affiliation. They’re also more likely to adopt out of the foster care system.
It’s a trend: In Massachusetts, another couple — Mike and Kitty Burke — were rejected as foster parents last year after expressing Catholic beliefs about marriage and gender that didn’t align with the state’s policy.
And in Oregon, a woman named Jessica Bates was denied a foster license for refusing to commit to gender-affirming practices. Her case is now before a federal appeals court.
Riley says many more conflicts never make the headlines.
“Once they make clear they’re looking for parents who fit a certain mold, people of faith either violate their own principles to comply, or they just don’t sign up at all because they know the agency is going to be hostile to their religious practice,” she said.
Hope for the Marvins: One major court precedent is the 2021 Supreme Court decision Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. In that case, the court ruled that the city violated the Free Exercise Clause when it stopped contracting with Catholic Social Services because the agency wouldn’t certify same-sex couples.
The court said that because Philadelphia’s rules allowed for exceptions, the city couldn’t deny a religious exemption.
Legal analysts say the Marvin case could hinge on similar reasoning — whether Massachusetts’ policy is truly “neutral and generally applicable,” or if it targets religious beliefs.
The Marvins’ lawsuit, filed with help from Alliance Defending Freedom, is still in early stages.

MRN_251021_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Foreign Policy Blitz, War On Narco-Terrorists, & Foster Care’s Faith Problem

Australia

Foster Care

Government Shutdown

Media

Politics

Ukraine

President Donald Trump closed out a Friday afternoon roundtable and gaggle with reporters by dropping the F-Bomb in response to a question about his administration&#8217;s position on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
While hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump was asked about Maduro recently offering the Trump administration a massive stake in Venezuela&#8217;s oil and mineral wealth.
&#8220;He has offered everything, you&#8217;re right,&#8221; Trump said to the reporter. &#8220;You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to f*** around with the United States.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Maduro: &#8220;He has offered everything, you&#8217;re right. You know why? Because he doesn&#8217;t want to fuck around with the United States.&#8221; 🔥🔥🔥 <a href="https://t.co/EhG7Eeaq7P">pic.twitter.com/EhG7Eeaq7P</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1979249952845934716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump then dismissed the media after answering the question.
After Trump&#8217;s recent actions targeting drug trafficking from Venezuela, the Maduro regime offered to give American companies preferential treatment in existing and future oil and gold projects, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/world/americas/maduro-venezuela-us-oil.html">reported</a>. The Trump administration rejected the offer and ended efforts to reach a diplomatic solution with the Maduro regime.
The president has focused on Venezuela in his effort to crack down on illegal drug trafficking. In August, the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-deploys-warships-near-venezuela-to-combat-drug-threats-sources-say?author=Reuters&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Deploys+Warships+Near+Venezuela+To+Combat+Drug+Threats%2C+Sources+Say">sent</a> three guided-missile destroyers to patrol off the coast of Venezuela as the administration addressed threats from drug cartels. Just weeks later, Trump began ordering military strikes on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea. The U.S. military has taken out at least five boats that were suspected of transporting drugs to the United States. In those strikes, at least 27 suspected drug traffickers have been killed, U.S. officials said.
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After the most recent strike, a U.S. official told Fox News that two or three suspected drug runners <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-strike-targeting-suspected-drug-traffickers-leaves-survivors-report?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=U.S.+Strike+Targeting+Suspected+Drug+Traffickers+Leaves+Survivors%3A+Report">survived</a>, and a search and rescue helicopter was sent out.
Trump has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-administration-authorizes-covert-cia-action-in-venezuela">authorized</a> lethal covert CIA operations in Venezuela. The administration has accused Venezuela of helping migrants cross into the United States illegally.
“Many, many countries have done it, but not like Venezuela, they were down and dirty,” Trump said.
The United States currently has a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro. The State Department has accused the dictator of participating &#8220;in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy&#8221; and coordinating &#8220;with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking.&#8221;
Maduro was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election, despite evidence showing that Edmundo González defeated the dictator at the polls. Maduro has moved to crack down on any opposition, forcing González into exile in Spain.

Trump Drops The Mic — And The F-Bomb — Answering Question About Venezuelan Dictator

Trump Drops The Mic — And The F-Bomb — Answering Question On Venezuelan Dictator

Drugs

Illegal Immigation

Multiple people reportedly survived a U.S. strike on Thursday that targeted a boat carrying suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.
An American official <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-military-drone-strike-caribbean-leaves-survivors-official-confirms">told</a> Fox News that there were two to three survivors after the U.S. carried out a strike targeting a “big” drug boat that was partially submerged under water. A search and rescue helicopter was sent out to the site of the strike in international waters, according to Fox News. Reuters first <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-carries-out-new-strike-caribbean-there-are-survivors-us-official-says-2025-10-16/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> news of the survivors.
No other details on the strike were immediately available.
The Trump administration has ordered at least five strikes targeting suspected drug traffickers, but the others have left no known survivors. At least 27 suspected drug traffickers have been killed in the previous strikes, according to U.S. officials. 
Thursday’s attack was the second this week, following another strike <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-the-united-states-took-out-another-narcoterrorist-boat?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Says+The+United+States+Took+Out+Another+‘Narcoterrorist’+Boat">announced</a> by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!”
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Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/1976746496830959965">announced</a> that he had established a new counter-narcotics task force that was directed to “crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.” 
“The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold,” Hegseth warned. 
The strikes have been opposed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who claims the Trump administration is targeting civilians. Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct lethal operations in Venezuela, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/us-strikes-cartel-boat-are-survivors-rcna238104">claiming</a> that President Nicolás Maduro has “emptied” his prisons into the United States and that “a lot of drugs are coming” from Venezuela.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-congress-u-s-in-armed-conflict-with-terrorist-drug-cartels">has told</a> Congress that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels that he has designated as terrorist organizations. That came after the State Department classified violent gangs like Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations.

MixCollage-17-Oct-2025-07-16-AM-6039

U.S. Strike Targeting Suspected Drug Traffickers Leaves Survivors: Report

Department of War

Military

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nobel-committee-announces-2025-peace-prize-winner-and-its-not-trump">awarded</a> the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, said that she was dedicating the award to President Donald Trump &#8220;for his decisive support of our cause.&#8221;
Machado, who has been targeted by the Nicolás Maduro regime in socialist Venezuela, was named the winner of this year&#8217;s Nobel Peace Prize for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and … her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Machado said that the prize is a &#8220;recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans,&#8221; adding that Venezuela is relying on Trump and the United States to help the country &#8220;achieve freedom and democracy.&#8221;
&#8220;I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!&#8221; Machado <a href="https://x.com/MariaCorinaYA/status/1976642376119549990">wrote</a>.
On his Truth Social account, President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115350523795713137">shared</a> a screenshot of a similar post from Machado. Earlier on Friday, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said that the Nobel Committee &#8220;proved they place politics over peace&#8221; by not awarding Trump the Nobel Peace Prize.
“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,” Cheung added. “He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.”
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The deadline for this year’s nominations was January 31, just days after Trump had taken office for his second term. In recent weeks, however, there has been a chorus of world leaders arguing for Trump to receive the award after the president pushed numerous countries toward peace. The calls for Trump to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize culminated when he successfully pressured Israel and Hamas to agree to the first phase of his 20-point peace plan this week.
Trump will likely be nominated again for the prize in 2026.
Machado&#8217;s Nobel Peace Prize comes as she remains in hiding after the Venezuelan government claimed that Maduro won the 2024 election, despite evidence showing that Machado&#8217;s ally Edmundo González defeated the dictator at the polls. González was backed by Machado after the socialist government barred Machado from holding political office. In the lead-up to the election and in its aftermath, Maduro’s regime repressed dissent and jailed opposition leaders. Machado has been hiding out since January, and González is living in exile in Spain.
In January, days before he was sworn into office, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113800699320833807">praised</a> Machado and González for &#8220;peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating against the regime.&#8221; The Trump administration has also placed a $50 million bounty on Maduro and increased sanctions on the country earlier this year after its fraudulent election.

Donald Trump/ María Corina Machado

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dedicates Award To Trump For His ‘Decisive Support’

General

Nobel Peace Prize

The label that launched Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny into stardom was founded by an investor who held a high position in the regime of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
Rafael Ricardo Jimenez Dan founded Rimas Entertainment in Puerto Rico and was the company’s sole owner until 2018. Before that, Jimenez was a top dog in the regime of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and ran a passport program that brought terrorists and criminals into the country, a Daily Wire review found.
Bad Bunny, whose legal name is Benito Ocasio, faced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-absolutely-ridiculous-that-nfl-chose-bad-bunny-for-super-bowl-halftime-show">backlash</a> over his anti-ICE stance after he was announced as the Halftime Show performer at Super Bowl LX in February. Ocasio said during a recent interview that he doesn’t perform in the United States over concerns that his fans could be targeted by immigration authorities.
“There was the issue of — like, f***ing ICE could be outside. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” the three-time Grammy Award winner said.
Bad Bunny even drew criticism from President Donald Trump.
“I never heard of him. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know why they’re doing it, it’s crazy, and then they blame it on some promoter that they hired to pick up entertainment, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Trump told Newsmax host Greg Kelly in a recent interview.
While leading Rimas, Jimenez approved artist signings and was part of the decision-making to bring Bad Bunny on board, <a href="https://l.gourl.es/l/9ee73221ee5255c08cdfd912ba02c55cca66cb43?notrack=1&amp;u=13107428" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Billboard.
Jimenez <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/rafael-ricardo-jimenez-dan-rimas-music-publishing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Music Business Worldwide in August that he met Bad Bunny “probably in 2016” and recalled seeing “that spark in Benito.”
“I met Benito while we were in Puerto Rico. I was very private and reserved, but Puerto Rico is 100 by 35 miles — it’s a small island,” Jimenez recalled.
“During several occasions, I was alongside [Bad Bunny] at music events, Billboard conferences, even helping him with personal things,” he said.
Jimenez was copied on an April 11, 2016, email regarding the “360 deal and songwriter agreement” with Bad Bunny sent by Rimas attorney Jessie Abad.
<div id="attachment_978119" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-978119" class="wp-image-978119 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Bad-Bunny.jpg" alt="Bad Bunny" width="1200" height="703" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Bad-Bunny.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Bad-Bunny-300x176.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Bad-Bunny-983x576.jpg 983w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Bad-Bunny-768x450.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />John Parra/WireImage via Getty Images</div>
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Jimenez served as an army captain in Venezuela and ended his military career in 1999, when Chavez seized power, according to Billboard. He joined the Chavez regime in 2002 to help modernize and digitize Venezuela’s government operations, including its law enforcement.
In March 2006, Jimenez was appointed as the Vice Minister of Legal Security in Venezuela’s Interior Ministry, according to Billboard. Months later, he was assigned a director role of Mission Identity, a controversial program Chavez officials allegedly used to bring Cuban agents to Venezuela with false identities, along with suspected Islamist terrorists, Colombian guerrillas, and drug traffickers.
Jimenez’s lawyer told Billboard that his client had “no knowledge” of the scheme. Jimenez also denied ever “personally” working with Mission Identity and that he had “no decision-making authority” in his position.
“For about one year from 2006 to 2007, I served as Vice Minister of Legal Certainty in my country, Venezuela,” Jimenez told Music Business Worldwide.
But he grew “very frustrated” and resigned, he said.
“I became very frustrated. I realized [the system] was impossible to change from within, and I resigned from my position. I was never in an administrative or economic position handling money. I was in institutional management on the technical side of government,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez said he had “no regrets” and worked to “improve access to justice and transparency — the same things we’re fighting for now in music — and strengthen the rule of law.”
He started at least a dozen companies in Venezuela and the Caribbean between 2005 and 2013, according to Billboard. He was also the CEO of a cardboard and paper packaging firm that was nationalized by Chavez.
He used the profits from a Miami restaurant and a food import company to fund Rimas and his life in the United States, his lawyer told Billboard.
Jimenez recently attempted to downplay his ties to the Chavez regime.
“I am not and never have been a political actor. I’m not a member of any political party in Venezuela — not left, not right. I never had any involvement in the coup d’état with Chávez,” he told Music Business Worldwide.
Jimenez made Noah Assad, Bad Bunny’s longtime manager, a 40% owner in the label in 2018, according to Billboard.
In 2023, he sold his 60% stake in Rimas’s label and talent management firm, he told Music Business Worldwide.
He still owns 60% of the independent copyright management firm Rimas Publishing, which <a href="https://www.rimaspublishing.com/artists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">touts</a> Bad Bunny on its roster of talent.

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Bad Bunny Owes His Career To A Record Exec Who Served In Venezuelan Dictator’s Regime

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Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday despite a chorus of world leaders who pushed for President Donald Trump to win this year&#8217;s honor.
The five-person Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Machado&#8217;s &#8220;tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and &#8230; her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING NEWS 
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NobelPeacePrize?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NobelPeacePrize</a> to Maria Corina Machado for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to… <a href="https://t.co/Zgth8KNJk9">pic.twitter.com/Zgth8KNJk9</a>
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) <a href="https://twitter.com/NobelPrize/status/1976573830337327267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Machado won her party&#8217;s primary, setting her up to challenge Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 election, but the opposition leader was disqualified from holding office by the Venezuelan government. Machado then got behind opposition candidate Edmundo González, who appeared to defeat Maduro at the polls, but the country’s National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner.
In the lead-up to the election and in its aftermath, Maduro&#8217;s regime repressed dissent and jailed opposition leaders. Machado was forced to go into hiding and has not been seen publicly since January, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nobel-peace-prize-oslo-41b6bff88e2d57af0917bcf778e132ad">reported</a>. Machado&#8217;s ally, González, who is living in exile in Spain, praised the Nobel Committee&#8217;s decision, saying it was a “very well-deserved recognition for the long struggle of a woman and of an entire people for our freedom and democracy.&#8221; He also posted a video of himself talking to Machado over the phone about the prize. Machado told him, &#8220;I am in shock. I cannot believe it,&#8221; the AP reported.
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¡Nuestra querida Maria Corina Machado, galardonada con el Premio Nobel de la Paz 2025! Merecidísimo reconocimiento a la larga lucha de una mujer y de todo un pueblo por nuestra libertad y democracia. ¡La primer Nobel de Venezuela! ¡Enhorabuena <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaCorinaYA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mariacorinaya</a>, Venezuela será… <a href="https://t.co/jpmrUEujtL">pic.twitter.com/jpmrUEujtL</a>
— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdmundoGU/status/1976580798401646928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to the news, saying that the Nobel Committee &#8220;proved they place politics over peace.&#8221;
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&#8220;President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives,&#8221; Cheung added. &#8220;He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will.&#8221;
The deadline for this year&#8217;s nominations was January 31, just days after Trump had taken office for his second term. After more than eight months of stringing together peace plans in numerous conflicts around the world and successfully getting Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and the first phase of his peace deal, many people believed that Trump deserved this year&#8217;s prize.
World leaders who have said that Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Argentinian President Javier Milei, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and Félix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the past, the committee had no issue awarding the Nobel Prize to a president shortly after he came into office. In 2009, former President Barack Obama was awarded the prize just months into his first term for ambiguous reasons. The committee <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2009/press-release/">awarded</a> Obama the Nobel Prize for &#8220;his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples&#8221; and for creating &#8220;a new climate in international politics.&#8221;

Nobel Committee Announces 2025 Peace Prize Winner — And It’s Not Trump

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