Good morning! Today is Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Thanks for stopping by, and hope this finds you well.
Today in History:
2003: Saddam Hussein captured.
2001: Terrorists attack the the Indian parliament.
1972: Last Moon landing, so far.
2024: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announces she’s using lower-case letters to fight capitalism. (OK, I made that up)
Birthdays include Ted Nugent, Mary Todd Lincoln, Dick Van Dyke, and Ben Bernanke.
________
Interesting and timely piece by Ken Timmerman over at the always worthwhile American Thinker.
They're calling it the "Trump Doctrine."
It's the national security "pivot" from regions far-far away, to taking care of business right here in our own backyard.
This document setting out America's national security priorities and how to accomplish them is written in Trump's own very distinctive voice. Even the way it puts the question is pure Trump. From page 2:
"1) What should the United States want?
"2) What are our available means to get it?
"3) How can we connect ends and means into a viable National Security Strategy?"
I guarantee you, this is not the way policy wonks think. Or think tankers think. Or National Security Council staffers think and express themselves. This is Donald J. Trump through and through: clear, concise, to the point, without the peppermint stick ice cream.
I’ve said often enough that if we can keep Russia and China out of our hemisphere, that’s really the best way to control their efforts in the rest of the world as well. And as for Europe? Ken speaks directly to that, impactfully. Rather than trying to convince Poland, Hungary Italy and so on to leave the EU, Ken essentially suggests: Why bother?
As someone who lived in Europe for 18 years, let me tell you just how dumb an idea that is. The EU is hugely unpopular in those countries and several others, including France, the Netherlands, and yes, even Germany and Sweden.
We don't need to stoke the flames of the anti-EU populations in Europe: the EU is doing that quite well all by itself, thank you. It is my belief that the EU will collapse on its own at some point because of the authoritarian overreach of the unelected bureaucrats who run things in Brussels.
But that is Europe's business, not ours. And Trump is the ultimate real politician. He was not elected president to correct all the world's ills, as some of his own unelected staffers believe they were sent to the White House to do. He just needs to set the example.
Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States to make America great again. And that starts, as he rightly states in this document (and every day on television and at campaign rallies), by securing our borders and securing our hemisphere.
Indeed, this is a key point, and something I’ve been saying for quite some time, now. This is by no means an isolationist rant. This is recognition of the reality that what happens outside our hemisphere isn’t nearly our business as much as what’s going on INSIDE it.
Which brings us to Venezuela. This bit with them is not at all new. It's been brewing for some time now.
What we're seeing is all part of the plan which our intel folks have known about for years. Former CIA officer Gary Berntsen, one of the most highly decorated intelligence veterans in recent U.S. history, came forward in March of this year forward to confirm that the Venezuelan regime has deliberately deployed the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) into the United States, with the express intent of destabilizing the country through sabotage and violence.
According to Berntsen, Tren de Aragua is no longer just a violent street gang. While they may wear the face of criminality, their core leadership and operational cells have undergone paramilitary training under the guidance of Venezuelan intelligence and military officials, with Cuban intelligence operatives and narco-terrorist networks throughout Latin America also aiding them.
Quoting Berntsen, Miami Herald journalist Antonio Delgado wrote:
“The Venezuelan regime has assumed operational control of these guys [Tren de Aragua] and has trained 300 of them; they have given them paramilitary training, training them to fire weapons and how to conduct sabotage. They have given them all like a four- to six-week course. They put these 300 guys through that course, and then they were deploying them into the United States to 20 separate states.”
Berntsen explained that sabotage includes acts such as arson, and that recent patterns of mysterious industrial fires, wildfires, and urban blazes — notably in Los Angeles and other key areas — could plausibly be linked to these foreign-trained operatives.
“Many of these wildfires, industrial fires, the Los Angeles fires, taking advantage of wind and the local conditions, were started by arsonists. How many of them were paid or coerced by TdA or their surrogates?” Berntsen asked.
Even more disturbing than the operation itself is the claim that elements within the CIA have deliberately ignored or buried this intelligence. Berntsen revealed that two current CIA officials recently leaked false information to the New York Times, claiming there is no intelligence connecting Tren de Aragua to the Venezuelan government.
But Berntsen says otherwise — and he has proof.
“The CIA doesn’t have the information because they refused to look at it,” Berntsen said. “We tried to brief them about this three years ago, but they were directed by the Biden Administration to ignore it. And now those officials are trying to undermine President Trump.”
According to Berntsen, he has already shared intelligence and source material with “elements of the U.S. government,” showing deep and sustained relationships between Tren de Aragua, Venezuelan and Cuban intelligence services, and high-level narcoterrorist operations.
I'll be very interested in our DOJ following up on this stuff.
Timmerman points up the takeover of a tanker ship carrying oil the other day. We’re keeping, it is said, both the ship and the oil, which ends up being a $250-$300M USD hit on the shipper and the owners. While that’s going on inside our hemisphere, it eliminates that oil showing up and funding terrorism in places harder for our military to reach. Iran for example. In typical Trump fashion, this is not only putting huge pressure on Maduro, but Tehran as well. Trump has them both… pardon the pun, over a barrel. All without going “over there.”
And, (chuckle) no, I'm not at all worried about Putin's promises about supporting Maduro militarily. After so many years of getting its backside adjusted upward by Ukraine, they simply don't have the forces or the funding available to make good on that promise. Heck, the Ukrainians sunk their flagship. We have no indication they're going to fare any better in this case. Nor, apparently, does Maduro himself, who has taken to singing Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" at rallies.
This situation points up the complete joke that we've been watching for years about how Trump is a tool of Putin. Yeah, right.
Take care. I'll see you here tomorrow.
Honest journalism, honest opinion, and straight-up analysis. That's what you support when you subscribe VIP-style to PJ Media. Use the code word FIGHT to save 60% off your bill.Remember that memberships make good stocking stuffers.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member