This is way beyond winning, this is stunningly brilliant strategy. Not only has President Trump successfully apprehended Venezuela dictator Nicolas Maduro, but the remaining interim government officials have acquiesced to fund a civil restitution plan to pay for their malfeasance.
The government that stole from its people is being forced to pay restitution for their own fraud, abuse and misconduct.
As we noted yesterday the immediate issue for Venezuela would be to fill the economic/financial void.
The Sea Island attendees support a quick Machado installation. Trump/Rubio prefer to proceed with more caution, especially because someone is going to be on the hook for financial support to Venezuela, because the domestic rewards from any expanded oil revenue are at least 5 to 10 years away.
Changing the regime in Venezuela may break China’s ‘belt and road’ grip, but China’s money is going to need to be replaced with independent domestic economic wealth for the Venezuelan people. That process takes time. [link]
Some type of short-term funding is needed during any kind of reconstruction of govt. Typically, the U.S. taxpayer would be on the hook during this phase; however, President Trump has found a way for the corrupt Venezuelan authorities to pay for their own civic shift back to democracy. Brilliant.
Last Friday Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) began surging roughly 2,000 federal agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation branch and Homeland Security Investigations, the agency’s investigative arm tasked with fighting transnational crimes into Minnesota.
The investigative objective appears to be utilizing the massive and systemic fraud throughout Minnesota as an entry gate to expand the investigation into other states. The key takeaway is that Minnesota simply reflects the tip of the iceberg and multiple Democrat run states likely have the same or worse fraud ongoing.
The Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) now follow up on the DHS surge with an announcement that $10 billion in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) payments are being halted as the investigations expand. Four additional states are being reviewed: California, Colorado, Illinois and New York, join Minnesota in seeing their federal funds stopped pending review and audit.
This is a smart approach because releasing the funds will be contingent upon the states accepting the audits. We all know that genuine audits of those state records will likely reveal massive fraud within the subsidy system that has been abused by Democrats. Minnesota has provided the entry point for a much larger corruption and fraud review.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is cutting off more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding meant for a handful of Democrat-led states over concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens, officials told The Post Monday.
The Department of Health and Human Services will freeze taxpayer funding from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and the Social Services Block Grant program.
There is some good news within this announcement as Justin Trudeau’s former Deputy Prime Minister to Canada is well known to both President Donald Trump and North American political followers for a decade.
Chrystia Freeland was the former lead of the Canadian trade delegation when Trudeau realized he needed to try and offset the economic damage within the renegotiated NAFTA agreement known as the USMCA. Freeland was also the lead attack agent behind the debanking effort against Canadian truckers who opposed the vaccine mandate.
In addition to holding Ukraine roots, the ideology of Chrystia Freeland as a multinational globalist and promoter for the World Economic Forum’s ‘new world order’ is well documented.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY – “Today, I appointed Chrystia Freeland as an Advisor on Economic Development. Chrystia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment and implementing economic transformations. Right now, Ukraine needs to strengthen its internal resilience – both for the sake of Ukraine’s recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as possible, and to reinforce our defense if, because of delays by our partners, it takes longer to bring this war to an end. I am grateful to everyone who is ready to support our state and our engagement with partners. Glory to Ukraine!” [source]
Presumably this appointment is intended to assist Zelenskyy in gaining western banking investment in Ukraine, part of the 20-point plan that relates to economic recovery. However, the downside is this announcement undermines any motivation the Trump administration might have toward that same objective.
In reality, given the recent revelations about billions of laundered aid funds being skimmed by corrupt members of the Ukraine government, we can only imagine how much of the recovery funds would be apportioned to maintaining the life of indulgence the political leaders expect.
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have noted that following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the remaining government is being pressured to realign their positions and accept a change in direction. It is always tenuous when the leader of a hostile foreign government is removed.
The current approach by the Trump administration is to permit former Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to continue operating the mechanisms within the country to retain near-term stability.The CIA assessedDelcy Rodriquez was the interim ruler who could keep order.
Prior to the removal of Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, was asked by the Trump administration to provide a detailed summary of how she could form a functioning government, should she be assisted to power.
Machado’s response did not provide confidence that her strategy was comprehensive enough. Therefore, the Trump administration assessed the best interim approach would be to continue working with the remaining Maduro government officials, led by Delcy Rodriquez, while pressuring them to follow the instructions of the United States.
Various geopolitical powers, including many that attend Mar-a-Lago functions, want Maria Corina Machado installed quickly. President Trump and Secretary Rubio are being more measured in their approach. The powers that want Machado installed are now working on a media strategy. Sean Hannity is enlisted for the assist.
The issue is one of competency and chaos. President Trump and Secretary Rubio do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past (Bush/Powell, Iraq or Obama/Clinton, Libya). The Venezuela issue is entirely different from the Middle East, but the same type of chaos can reemerge if the transition from authoritarianism to representative democracy is not well managed.
The Sea Island attendees support a quick Machado installation. Trump/Rubio prefer to proceed with more caution, especially because someone is going to be on the hook for financial support to Venezuela, because the domestic rewards from any expanded oil revenue are at least 5 to 10 years away.
Changing the regime in Venezuela may break China’s ‘belt and road’ grip, but China’s money is going to need to be replaced with independent domestic economic wealth for the Venezuelan people. That process takes time.
Maria Corina Machado is supported by all the same networks who support Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Despite the twinkles in the eyes of senators within the Foreign Relations Committee, we don’t want Venezuela to become North America’s largest Somali daycare operation.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller appears on CNN to respond to Jake Tapper’s concerns about America being successful in the operation to capture Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Tapper’s furrowed brow deepens with each of Miller’s statements which outline the current status. Mr. Miller explains how the acting Venezuelan government has acquiesced to the demands of President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Tapper has difficulty accepting that a new strategic and targeted approach by the Trump administration could have such success. WATCH:
Secretary Pete Hegseth – “Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline. As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.
Therefore, in response to Senator Mark Kelly’s seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret). The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay.
To ensure this action, the Secretary of War has also issued a formal Letter of Censure, which outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly’s reckless misconduct. This Censure is a necessary process step and will be placed in Captain Kelly’s official and permanent military personnel file.”
According to the latest news from the government of Cuba, two days of official mourning have been declared as they announce 32 members of the Cuban military and Intelligence services were killed in Venezuela while protecting Nicolas Maduro. There were no American fatalities.
REUTERS – HAVANA, Jan 4 (Reuters) – The Cuban government said on Sunday that 32 of its citizens were killed during the U.S. raid on Venezuela to extract President Nicolas Maduro for prosecution in the United States.
Havana said there would be two days of mourning on January 5 and 6 in honor of those killed and said funeral arrangements would be announced.
The Cuban government statement gave few details but said all the dead were members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence agencies.
Once again giving context to the immediate reaction from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum following the operation to exfiltrate Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, during the return flight to Washington DC President Trump spoke about how President Sheinbaum is “a little afraid” of the cartels in Mexico.
When asked about his previous offer to have the U.S. military intervene in the drug and human trafficking operations within Mexico, President Trump said, “I would say every single time I’ve talked to her I’ve offered to send troops.” Following up with, “she’s concerned, she’s a little afraid, the cartels are running Mexico. Whether you like it or not, the cartels are running Mexico.” WATCH:
This is not just an ordinary off-the-cuff statement when you consider the ramifications. There is no closer geographic nation to the mainland United States other than Mexico, and President Trump is being brutally honest in his statement that Mexican President Sheinbaum is afraid of the cartels. The cartels run the Mexican government.
Mexican residents living in the United States and sending money back to Mexico are a major economic driver of Mexico’s GDP. Currently the best estimate of GDP is that personal remittances make up around 4% of their domestic economy. The United States sent $62.5 billion dollars in remittances to Mexico in 2024, 96.6% of the total received by the country. 47% of remittances from the United States to Mexico are sent from California and Texas [source].
The remittances essentially subsidize the average Mexican family, while the illegal cartel income is estimated around $12 billion annually [source]. The total Mexican GDP is around $1.7 trillion [source], Canada is roughly $2.4 trillion, the United States is around $30 trillion.
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman, Tom Cotton, appears on CBS with Margaret Brennan to discuss reaction to the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the current status of Venezuela and the longer-term ramifications. Video and Transcript Below:
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined now by the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton. Good to have you here. Senator.
SEN. TOM COTTON: Thanks, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have oversight of the intelligence community which was deeply involved in this operation to go into Venezuela militarily and extract Nicholas Maduro and his wife. Does the US still assess that the regime in Venezuela is made up of Narco terrorists with ties to Iran, Russia, China and Cuba?
