I first read and listened to the following account a few days ago and hesitated to share the story because what was described sounded surreal.  However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also shared these details giving the account some level of potential authenticity that did not exist before.

What is described about the attack on the compound of Nicolas Maduro is quite remarkable.  All electronic countermeasures, including radar were rendered ineffective after initial U.S. military strikes.

Then a wave of drones moved in and began targeting specific infrastructure.  Then a network of Venezuelan aircraft was destroyed on the ground. Then the helicopters arrived and the technology with the U.S. soldiers’ weapons was unlike anything the Cuban/Venezuelan military had ever encountered.

Maduro was being protected by approximately 300 armed soldiers. One of Maduro’s guards survived with injuries and gave an account in Spanish [LINK] that was also shared in English translation [LINK] The original video is below the transcript.

[TRANSCRIPT] – This account from a Venezuelan security guard loyal to Nicolás Maduro is absolutely chilling—and it explains a lot about why the tone across Latin America suddenly changed.

Security Guard: On the day of the operation, we didn’t hear anything coming. We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation. The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.

Interviewer: So what happened next? How was the main attack?

Security Guard: After those drones appeared, some helicopters arrived, but there were very few. I think barely eight helicopters. From those helicopters, soldiers came down, but a very small number. Maybe twenty men. But those men were technologically very advanced. They didn’t look like anything we’ve fought against before.

Interviewer: And then the battle began?

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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The eruption of astroturfed outrage involving the organized leftist agitators and the self-defense shooting by an ICE official is a redo of a familiar pattern.  The players are all the same.

From the fabrications around the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, forward to the shooting of Michael Brown, to the ridiculous claims of brutality against Freddie Grey or George Floyd, the same people now aligned to beatify or canonize Renee Good all have the same agenda.

RevCom, Weather Underground, Anarchists, Occupy Wall Street, BLM or Antifa, they all follow the domestic communist playbook of social disruption.

This time in Minneapolis the same people who demanded the defunding of police while they organized fraud rings, are now demanding the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Consider this an open discussion thread for anything related to the ongoing coordinated civil unrest.

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Details are scant, and I’m not exactly sure how this would work, but President Trump has proposed a one-year freeze on credit card rates at 10%.

[SOURCE]

As noted by Politico, previous “legislation sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and cosponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) would impose a 10 percent cap on credit card rates for five years. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House.”  Yet, unilateral authority by a President does not seem evident.

If anyone has any information on how this could be accomplished, feel free to share. I’m not sure how this can be done.

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President Trump, President Zelenskyy and the CIA continue to deny any involvement on the drone attack against Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin’s state residence.  However, Russia has released evidence from the drones that were shot down including the guidance and targeting systems.

Someone launched the drones from Ukraine and targeted them at Putin’s residence to send a message.  There is considerable debate online about it, but if President Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are speaking truthfully, the most likely suspect who launched the drones was British intelligence inside Ukraine.  Then again, if the CIA was factually involved, everyone would have to deny it.

In retaliation for the December 29th attack, yesterday Russia fired a hypersonic Oreshnik missile and counterattack drones directly into the heart of Kiev, Ukraine.

The use of the Oreshnik missile comes just hours after Russian President Putin asserted publicly that Ukraine, Europe and NATO have no defenses against the hypersonics.

President Zelenskyy said the Russian attack involved 242 drones, 13 ballistic missiles, one Oreshnik missile and 22 cruise missiles. However, as with all things Zelenskyy, this dramatic claim seems to be slightly exaggerated.

Russia claims they targeted key electricity infrastructure as well as the production facilities for building drones in Kiev which are collocated in residential areas.

Images of the hypersonic missile warheads hitting their targets is shown at left.  Much of Kiev is now without power and electricity.

The Russian Defense Ministry said, “in response to the terrorist attack by the Kiev regime on the residence of the President of the Russian Federation in Novgorod region, launched on the night of 29 December 2025, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range ground- and sea-based weapons including the Oreshnik mobile ground-based medium-range missile system as well as attack unmanned aerial vehicles at critically important facilities on the territory of Ukraine. All the assigned targets have been hit. Production facilities of unmanned aerial vehicles that were used during the terrorist attack as well as power infrastructure enterprises that supported the defense industry of Ukraine have been damaged.”

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

(more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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Energy Secretary Wright asked Chevron CEO Mike Wirth to give some information about the current status of the Venezuelan oil industry.  Chevron has been on the ground in Venezuela for a long period of time and has significant infrastructure investment already in place.

Wirth notes that with current personnel (3,000) and equipment (4 locations) on site, Chevron could likely double capacity almost immediately, however, from there it would take approximately 18-months to gain more significant outputs.

President Trump asked if Chevron was in a position of advantage from already having their people and material already in operation, Wright noted generally yes, they do; however, the opportunities for industrial capacity gains are significant.

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During the energy roundtable, Secretary Rubio made remarks outlining the three phases within the U.S. policy toward Venezuela.  Essentially the core of the policy is: (1) Stabilization; (2) Transition, and (3) a Return to sovereign representative democracy.

The initial phase is ‘stabilization,’ where the U.S. government is working with existing leadership in Venezuela under tight controls and clear expectations.  Reconciliation of political factions is supported. The U.S. leverage is maintained by financial and economic control, provided by the threat of U.S. military.  Venezuela’s oil production pays for U.S. oversight.

The second phase involves ‘transition’, where the civic and governing responsibilities are shared between the existing Venezuelan leadership and aligned policy of the U.S. government.  In the transitional phase the economic wealth is apportioned to the people of Venezuela with oversight by the U.S. government.

The third phase ‘sovereign representative democracy’ happens when the reformed government holds legitimate elections to decide the representative form of government, the voice of the people, within Venezuela.  The U.S. influence then begins to withdraw, and new sovereign political leadership takes control.

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