'Very sick too': Trump sets sights on more countries after successful Venezuela operation Over the weekend, the Trump administration successfully captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. In the hours and days following the successful operation, Trump suggested that Venezuela is only the start of his efforts to retake control of the Western Hemisphere. Talking to the press aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, President Trump set his sights on two more countries that he says need to be reined in.'Sounds good to me.'"Colombia is very sick too. Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you," Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One. RELATED: 'We're going to run it': Trump reveals Venezuela's fate following Maduro's capture Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTrump suggested that the president of Colombia runs "cocaine mills and cocaine factories," but they will not be running for much longer. When asked if there would be an operation in Colombia to cut off the alleged drug trafficking and corruption, Trump told reporters, "Sounds good to me." Trump added that Cuban leadership has "only survived because of Venezuela" when asked if similar operations were planned in the country.Similarly President Trump on Sunday added that "we need Greenland for national security." "If you take a look at Greenland ... you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place," Trump said.On Monday morning, Trump reiterated the message that the United States needs Greenland for "national security." Trump lightly mocked Denmark's handling of the territory, saying, "You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dog sled. It's true!"The United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled his disapproval of Trump's push for Greenland. Starmer told the BBC Monday that "only Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark" should "decide the future of Greenland." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here! View Article →

The Venezuela crisis was never just about drugs For decades, the United States focused its counterterrorism efforts on the Middle East and Asia. Meanwhile, a dangerous convergence of international terrorism and transnational crime took root much closer to home. Across Latin America — centered in Venezuela — hostile networks quietly expanded. The Trump administration has finally acted. How the United States manages Venezuela’s transition to legitimate leadership now carries direct national security consequences.The media frames U.S. action against Venezuela as a narco-trafficking problem. The threat runs far deeper.Allowing hostile powers to entrench themselves in the Western Hemisphere threatens not just economic interests but national survival.Hezbollah, backed by Iran, began building a Latin American presence as early as the mid-1980s. What started as fundraising and money laundering in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay grew into a sprawling criminal-terrorist network. That network carried out devastating attacks in Argentina during the 1990s. Over time, Hezbollah expanded into recruitment, training, and operational planning, embedding itself across the region.The threat escalated sharply in 2012, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad forged a strategic alliance with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez. That partnership gave Iran a state sponsor in the Western Hemisphere and dramatically expanded its reach. Iran gained the ability to move money, oil, and personnel throughout the region and even established drone-production capabilities inside Venezuela.U.S. law enforcement recognized the danger. The Drug Enforcement Administration launched Project Cassandra to investigate Hezbollah’s evolution into a global crime syndicate. The DEA tracked cocaine shipments from Latin America through West Africa into Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. Investigators uncovered a network believed to generate roughly $1 billion annually through drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering.The Obama administration later curtailed Project Cassandra in pursuit of a nuclear agreement with Iran. That decision left much of the criminal-terrorist infrastructure intact. Its consequences persist. Hezbollah-linked networks still operate across the region with minimal interference.Under Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela functioned as both a failed state and a logistical lifeline for Iran. The regime facilitated the movement of operatives and equipment throughout Latin America and beyond. In return, Iran supplied Venezuela’s oil sector with blending materials and refining equipment, helping Maduro evade sanctions and cling to power.Venezuela also issued hundreds of passports and national IDs to individuals from the Middle East, including figures linked to Hezbollah. Those documents allowed operatives to travel freely under new identities, posing a direct threat to U.S. and regional security. The ability to move undetected across borders remains one of the most valuable tools available to terrorist organizations, and Venezuela provided it willingly.Recognizing the gravity of the threat, the Trump administration took unprecedented steps. After imposing an oil blockade and designating the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. authorities captured Maduro to face justice in the United States.For the first time in a century, the Western Hemisphere now anchors the U.S. National Security Strategy. The Trump administration’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine commits the United States to denying non-hemispheric powers — including Iran, Russia, China, and Turkey — the ability to position forces or control strategic assets in the Americas.RELATED: The pernicious myth that America doesn’t win wars Photo by AFP via Getty ImagesEvidence of coordination with America’s adversaries is not speculative. Russia’s Foreign Ministry openly acknowledged Venezuela as a strategic partner, citing what it called the “deliberate escalation of tensions” around a friendly nation. Russia arms Venezuela’s military, built a Kalashnikov rifle factory inside the country, and protects key installations with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.China played a parallel role. Beijing became Venezuela’s largest oil customer and financed more than $60 billion in projects. Roughly 7% of China’s oil imports came from Venezuela, propping up the Maduro regime while fueling China’s economy.As left-wing governments across Latin America gave way to more pro-American leadership, Venezuela’s isolation only increased its value to hostile powers. It became a forward operating base against the United States.Consider the implications. Iranian ballistic missiles — capable of inflicting serious damage even without nuclear warheads — stationed in Venezuela would sit on America’s doorstep. Add Russian or Chinese nuclear capabilities, and the risk escalates from strategic challenge to strategic catastrophe.Allowing hostile powers to entrench themselves in the Western Hemisphere threatens not just economic interests but national survival. The fusion of terrorist and criminal networks inside Venezuela posed a clear and present danger that demanded decisive action.The United States must remain firm in its commitment to a secure, sovereign hemisphere. Ignoring threats in our own back yard invites disaster. And the regime in Tehran understands that reality better than most — nervously, right now more than ever. View Article →

'We're going to run it': Trump reveals Venezuela's fate following Maduro's capture President Donald Trump announced that the United States will be running Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. American military forces conducted a "large scale strike" in Venezuela where Maduro and his wife were captured and transported on the USS Iwo Jima. Following the operation, Trump announced that the United States is "going to run" Venezuela until a "proper transition can take place" in the government. 'It was dark, and it was deadly.'"We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn't have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind," Trump said, flanked by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other officials. "We've had decades of that. We're not going to let that happen." Trump also said American oil companies are going to "go in" and "fix the badly broken infrastructure."RELATED: Maduro captured following 'large scale strike' in Venezuela, Trump saysNicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima. pic.twitter.com/omF2UpDJhA— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 3, 2026 Maduro and his wife were indicted for their "campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens." Both are en route to the Southern District of New York, where they will be tried. Trump also noted that no American servicemen were killed in the operation and all military equipment was recovered. RELATED: Trump says US struck drug-linked site in Venezuela: ‘We hit them very hard’ Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images"All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with U.S. law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night," Trump said. "It was dark, and it was deadly." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here! View Article →

Trump’s agenda faces a midterm kill switch in 2026 Ten months ahead of November’s midterms, political and economic crosscurrents are colliding. Which of these conflicting trends prevail will greatly shape the next two years. And possibly even longer.Midterm elections are always important. Besides gauging the country’s political mood, they have proven integral to maintaining America’s political equilibrium. For good or ill, incumbent presidents and their party own the economy. The question is: Which economy will Republicans own?They are the “ebb” to the “flow” of America’s political tide. Historically, every four years a large tide of voters go to the polls and elect a president. Then every two years, the large voter flow ebbs back, and the president’s party suffers accordingly. This midterm is particularly important to Trump because he has proven susceptible to being baited by his opponents. After 2018, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) returned to the House speakership and unrelentingly harassed Trump over the last two years of his first term. These distractions and obstructions — especially during COVID — were undoubtedly a factor in Trump’s narrow 2020 Electoral College defeat.Today’s political crosscurrents are pronounced. We know the president’s party historically loses seats. The last two two-term presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, suffered congressional losses averaging 22 House seats and 7.5 Senate seats. Such losses would hand Democrats control of Congress, giving them a House majority larger than Republicans’ narrow edge and a Senate majority bigger than the GOP’s current six-seat margin. Such outcomes would end Trump’s legislative agenda, and Democrats could set their own. To understand the potential impact, play back the recent funding impasse when Democrats shut the government down for the longest period ever — despite lacking control of either chamber. While Trump would be able to veto Democratic legislation and Republican numbers would be ample to uphold his vetoes, Democrats would have a formal hand in shaping the political agenda. This could greatly help their 2028 presidential prospects. RELATED: Republicans are letting Democrats lie about affordability Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesCurrent politics are blunting the historical midterm flow, however. Trump is divisive, with just a 43.4% favorable rating; however, his job approval rating of 43.1% is higher than Obama’s (42.4%) at the same point in his second term. Further, Democrats are in abysmal shape with just a 32.5% favorability rating. The current 2026 political map is also favorable to Republicans. While they have more seats (22 to 13) to protect in the Senate, the toss-up seats are evenly split: Republicans with Maine and North Carolina; Democrats with Georgia and Michigan. Mid-decade House redistricting efforts are also likely to favor Republicans somewhat; if the Supreme Court should allow race to be disregarded in drawing House districts when it rules on the Louisiana case currently before it, then even more redistricting could occur and amount to an even greater Republican advantage.Today’s economic crosscurrents are equally pronounced. For good or ill, incumbent presidents and their party own the economy. The question is: Which economy will Republicans own?At the micro level, the growing issue is “affordability.” Nationally, this is an overhang of inflation that surged during Biden’s administration and peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 — a 40-year high. Locally, affordability played well in New York City (which has been plagued by Democratic policies of rent control and excessive taxation, regulation, and litigation) in 2025’s mayoral race. It also played well in Virginia, where it linked powerfully into the record-long government shutdown. Democrats are therefore seizing on the issue with some success — particularly in the establishment media — and are trying to nationalize it. At the macro level, the economy is a different story. Despite “expert” predictions that Trump’s tariffs, green agenda rollback, attack on illegal immigration, and reduction in government would combine to wreck the economy, the reverse has occurred. In Trump’s first two full quarters in office, GDP is averaging over 4% growth: up 3.8% in the second quarter and 4.3% in the third. Inflation has also been moderate — 2.7% in November — certainly not the spike experts predicted and a far cry from the previous four years. RELATED: Conservatives face a choice in ’26: realignment or extinction MediaProduction via iStock/Getty ImagesSo politically, depending on your perspective, Republicans look to outperform historically. Their Senate majority looks safe for now, with the chance that Republicans could even gain a seat or two. By contrast, Republicans’ House majority looks vulnerable; this could be offset slightly by current mid-decade redistricting efforts. Yet even just half the average loss of the last two administrations in their second midterms would mean an 11-seat swing and a 226-209 Democratic majority. Economically, the question is whether the micro or the macro prevails. Can the micro become a national mood outside Democratic areas, or will the macro of strong GDP growth and moderate inflation have time to prevail? Expect political midterm fortunes to respond accordingly. What is certain is that the midterms will shape the last two years of Trump’s second term. And possibly determine who will run and who will win the presidency in 2028.Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire. View Article →

Do blue-light glasses actually work? It's impossible to imagine that anyone reading this on their computer, tablet, or smartphone has made it to 2025 without hearing about the dangers of blue light. What's more, for every warning about those blue-light hazards comes the equally ubiquitous solution: blue-light glasses. Blue-light glasses are built with lenses that shield the eye from shorter, higher energy wavelengths of light.Since screens are ubiquitous now and there's unfortunately very little chance that they will be going anywhere, the next best solution is to learn to live with them to the best of our ability. But that leaves an important question to be answered when it comes to dealing with blue light: Do those blue-light glasses actually work, or are they a gimmick?RELATED: Hello, darkness, my old friend: How to get your body's circadian rhythms back on the beat Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesLED bluesMost people have seen the studies: Blue light, which is emitted by screens and indoor LED lightbulbs, may cause quite a few health problems, including the disruption of your circadian rhythm, leading to poorer quality sleep. Some believe that this is because blue light signals to the body that it is time to be alert and awake, which is obviously problematic when phones are used at night. Blue light may also increase stress and lower cognitive output, but one might be surprised to learn that other studies have found the opposite to be true. It's also important to note that blue light is natural and is emitted from the sun at a higher frequency than from screens or LED bulbs. However, many have turned to blue-light glasses as a solution to eye fatigue and other issues as well. People whose job involves staring at a screen for long periods of time have often reported eyestrain, which is sometimes called computer vision syndrome.Blue-light glasses are built with lenses that shield the eye from shorter, higher energy wavelengths of light, notably blue light. Science ambivalentHowever, the science is still quite ambivalent on the question of blue-light glasses and their effectiveness, with most sources leaning toward saying you do not need them. In a 2023 study that examined 17 different blue-light-filtering lens trials, it was discovered that the blue-light glasses had little to no effect on any of the relevant symptoms, including sleep quality and eye strain. So while you may not need to go get any blue-light glasses according to these studies, the question stands: Can anything be done to reduce the negative effects of blue light? 20-20-20 visionThe answer is yes, but it's not nearly as fancy as a pair of new spectacles. Eye doctors recommend avoiding screens at night or turning on the "night" filter on your phone to reduce the blue-light display, effectively negating any need for lenses in the first place.“There is reason to think blue-light exposure may signal our brains that we should stay awake, so reducing blue light in the evening may be beneficial and glasses may help,” Dr. Craig See, an ophthalmologist and cornea specialist, told US News. “However, devices can automatically reduce blue light in the screens.Others recommend following the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds or more. This will hopefully reduce any eye discomfort without adding any unnecessary accessories. View Article →

Woman brutally stabbed multiple times in unprovoked attack at Sonic Drive-In; suspect still on the loose A woman who was brutally stabbed multiple times last month at a Sonic Drive-In is speaking out about the unprovoked attack, KFOR-TV reported.Linda Hollrah drove to the fast-food restaurant on NE 23rd Street in Oklahoma City to pick up her order, the station said.'I remember thinking over and over and saying over and over, "Why did this happen to me?"'When she parked her car, Hollrah's attacker stabbed her through the window multiple times, KFOR said."Before I knew it, he just came straight up to my car, said no words to me, and just attacked me and just kept stabbing and stabbing," Hollrah said to the station.The attack left bloodstains in her car and in the parking lot, KFOR said."It's hard to even still piece together kind of what my brain was going through, except just to fight for my life," she added to the station.The attack left her with numerous injuries, KFOR reported."I was stabbed once in my kneecap, three times in my forearm, once on my inner, two on my outer thigh, and then once in my upper abdomen, which ended up causing a nick in my liver that they had to repair for internal bleeding," Hollrah explained to the station. RELATED: Thug attacks mother walking her toddler in stroller, cops say; 10 days later — on Thanksgiving — he's accused of even worse KFOR, citing the incident report, said Sonic told police that the restaurant's surveillance cameras were not working at the time.Police instead are relying on video of the suspect before and after the attack that a nearby traffic camera recorded, the station said.But so far no arrests have been made, KFOR noted, and police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers.RELATED: Mainstream media turns a blind eye to vicious stabbing of young Ukrainian woman — (@) "I remember thinking over and over and saying over and over, 'Why did this happen to me?' Which, unfortunately, you know, nobody can answer and maybe will never be answered," Hollrah shared with the station.KFOR added that Hollrah has been unable to work during her recovery: "It's stressful thinking about the mountain of debt that this is going to leave me in and having to pay for some things that my insurance probably won't cover — very specialized things that I'm going to need," she told the station.Hollrah's sister started a GoFundMe to assist her with expenses. As of Friday afternoon, $14,580 has been raised; the goal amount is $24,000."For a hard-working single mother, seeking out help isn't always the easiest thing, so I asked Linda's permission to invite our family and friends to support her in this way," the GoFundMe states. "Any and all contributions are appreciated more than you know, as Linda and our family try to move forward from this senseless act of violence."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here! View Article →