Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on Dec. 8 vacated President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that halted federal permitting and leasing for wind energy projects, saying it violated U.S. law.

U.S. District Judge Patti Saris of the District of Massachusetts ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia, which argued that federal efforts to halt authorization for wind energy projects violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the agencies failed to provide reasoned explanations for their actions.

Trump’s order directs federal agencies to halt approvals and leasing for all new offshore wind power projects pending a comprehensive review.

In a 47-page ruling, Saris stated that the order’s indefinite suspension of wind energy project authorizations violates a statutory requirement that agencies proceed to conclude matters “within a reasonable time.”

“No permits have [been] issued since the wind order was promulgated, and the agency defendants acknowledge that they will not issue any permits at least until they complete the comprehensive assessment, for which there is no timeline,” the judge stated. “That action is contrary to law.”

The judge also noted that federal agencies failed to provide “a reasoned explanation” for halting wind project authorizations, even as they were carrying out the president’s directive.

“Given that the wind order constitutes a change of course from decades of agencies’ issuing (or denying) permits related to wind energy projects, the agency defendants were required, at minimum, to ‘provide a reasoned explanation for the change’ and to ‘display awareness that (they were) changing position.’ They failed to do so,” Saris stated.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, part of the coalition in the lawsuit, hailed the ruling as a “critical victory” for the states.

“Massachusetts has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into offshore wind, and today, we successfully protected those important investments from the Trump Administration’s unlawful order,” Campbell said in a statement.

New York Attorney General Letitia James welcomed the ruling and said there is a need to develop more energy sources, including wind energy, amid rising costs.

“I am grateful the court stepped in to block the administration’s reckless and unlawful crusade against clean energy,” she added.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers defended Trump’s directive, saying that offshore wind projects were given “unfair, preferential treatment” under the Biden administration while other energy sources faced burdensome regulations.

“President Trump has ended Joe Biden’s war on American energy and unleashed America’s energy dominance to protect our economic and national security,” Rogers said in a statement.

Trump has pushed to increase U.S. use of fuel and coal energy sources in a move to reduce reliance on foreign supply. On July 7, Trump signed an executive order to end federal subsidies for wind and solar energy projects, citing their unreliability and dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains.

The order states that such renewable energy sources are expensive, compromise the nation’s electric grid, and threaten national security. It instructs the Interior Department to review and eliminate regulations that give preferential treatment to wind and solar projects.

Update(1435ET): Is this finally the end of the road for Zelensky? President Trump has really ramped up the pressure, in a fresh Politico interview signaling that the Ukrainian leader must begin to accept reality and make compromises, starting with holding elections. According to a fresh audio statement being circulated, Zelensky has newly responded by stating “I am ready for elections. I will be in Ukraine tomorrow and expect proposals from our partners and lawmakers on legal changes to allow elections during martial law,” according to a translation.

“Since this issue is being raised by the U.S. president and our European partners, I’ll be brief: I am ready. I ask the U.S., together with Europe, to ensure security for the vote. If that is done, Ukraine can hold elections within 60 days.”

Has Trump finally put some real pressure on him? It seems so. Given Zelensky had put the brakes on the US-proposed pace plan by definitively rejecting the territorial concessions aspects to the document, the US president’s assessment to Politico was blunt and highly critical, going so far as to basically call Ukraine not a democracy. “They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump said. “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”

By calling for elections in Ukraine, Trump makes it clear that he deems Zelensky the main obstacle to peace. This opinion is shared by a part of the Ukrainian establishment.

Elections are indeed constitutionally impossible although I am sure the Russians will announce temporary…

— Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) December 9, 2025

There was also this blistering and mocking statement from Trump: “He’s a great salesman – I call him P.T. Barnum. You know who P.T. Barnum was? One of the greatest ever. He could sell any product at any time, whether it worked or not. Zelensky did the same thing: he got Crooked Joe Biden to hand him $350 billion, and now 25% of his country is gone.”

All of this means that in two months Ukraine could finally see a new leader. A likely frontrunner candidate who has some big name recognition, both in Ukraine and internationally, is Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who is the former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. He was forced out by Zelensky, to the frustration and anger of many commanders, and took up his diplomatic post in July 2024.

Trump’s Politico interview made clear that Zelensky is now seen as the main obstacle to peace…

⚡️ Zelensky ‘ready for ELECTIONS’

As long as the US and Europe provide ‘security’, he says he can hold a vote in the next three months

Has Trump finally put some real pressure on him? https://t.co/kSIbaydnm9 pic.twitter.com/UtoUb90FDK

— RT (@RT_com) December 9, 2025

The FT is reporting that Trump has given Kiev just days to accept the US ceasefire deal. Trump now wants a deal done by Christmas Day, according to the report.

* * *

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while meeting with so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ European leaders in London on Monday definitively ruled out that his country will agree to cede territory as part of a peace deal.

He specified that the question of territorial compromise is why he has not reached agreement on Donald Trump’s peace deal. “There are visions of the US, Russia and Ukraine – and we don’t have a unified view on Donbas,” Zelensky told Bloomberg.

Zelensky also wants much firmer security guarantees in the Washington plan. “There is one question I — and all Ukrainians — want to get an answer to: if Russia again starts a war, what will our partners do,” he said shortly before meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz.

But the US peace plan hinges precisely on offering some level of significant territorial compromise, given that Moscow – which has the clear upper hand militarily – considers anything less to be an automatic non-starter not worth even discussing.

President Trump has recently declared that if Zelensky rejects the US plan, he should be ready to fight Russia alone and with much less Washington help. But is Trump ready to cut off weapons supplies altogether? 

Likely he’ll be content with Europe buying them, and still transferring them to Kiev. But all of this could mean that US intel sharing is finally cut off.

Meanwhile Trump has belittled ‘weak’ Europe for seeking to scrap together a counter-plan:

President Trump mocked Europe’s involvement on Monday, sharing an opinion piece which praises him for sideling “impotent Europeans” from the Ukraine peace talks. Trump has also criticized Zelensky, accusing him of not reading the latest peace proposals.

As for the US peace plan, it appears to have been primarily drafted by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev – but so far the Zelensky government has complained that it’s being cut out of the process.

Zelensky has throughout the war consistently rejected any proposal which features territorial concessions. He is supported especially be Ukrainian hardliners, both in the military and in parliament. 

Kiev and EU’s maximalist counter-demands…

European counter-plan. Ukraine NATO membership up to NATO; no territorial concessions; ceasefire along contact line; no cap on Ukrainian military; EU membership; reconstruction to be paid by Russia. pic.twitter.com/YBEDLPydFp

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) November 23, 2025

Now he’s seeking to get European leaders to back him up, and they appear to be doing so. This is all a recipe for keeping the endless war going with no end in sight, and the proxy conflict nature of it continues to get dangerously out of hand.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge in New York on Dec. 9 ruled that the Department of Justice (DOJ) can unseal records in the case against Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, weeks after the passage of a law that required the government to disclose case records related to both Epstein and Maxwell.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer issued the ruling after the DOJ, in November, asked two judges in New York to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits from Maxwell and Epstein’s cases, along with investigative materials.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law, meaning that the records could be made public within roughly 10 days.

The law requires the DOJ provide Epstein-related records to the public in a searchable format by Dec. 19.

In the order, the judge wrote that the law “does not explicitly refer to grand jury materials,” but added that it “textually covers the grand jury materials in this case.”

“The Court thus finds that modification of the Protective Order is necessary to enable DOJ to carry out its legal obligations under the Act,” he added.

“The Act unambiguously applies to the discovery in this case,” Engelmayer stated, adding that “unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” are covered in relation to Maxwell, Epstein, and connected individuals.

Nothing New

The decision comes after Engelmayer previously denied DOJ’s bid to release the documents – when he wrote that a “public official,” “lawmaker,” “pundit,” or “ordinary citizen” concerned with the Epstein case would expect them to reveal new information, based on the government’s descriptions, and “come away feeling disappointed and misled.” Most of the material is “entirely a matter of longstanding public record,” he said at the time.

The ruling was issued days after a federal judge in Florida granted the DOJ’s request to release transcripts from a grand jury investigation into Epstein in the 2000s.

Engelmayer is the second judge to allow the DOJ to publicly disclose previously secret Epstein court records. Last week, a judge in Florida granted the department’s request to release transcripts from an abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein in the 2000s.

The Florida judge also cited the recent passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, noting that it supersedes DOJ rules and procedures around the sealing of grand jury materials. In its request, the DOJ wanted documents in a 2006–2007 Florida grand jury sex trafficking investigation into Epstein in which he ultimately pleaded guilty on lesser charges.

The records that Engelmayer unsealed pertain to the case against Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in a sex trafficking scheme involving minors.

Following the signing of the Epstein law, the DOJ also submitted a request to unseal records in a New York case against Epstein before he was arrested in 2019. He was later found dead in a New York City jail cell in August 2019 as he was awaiting federal sex trafficking charges.

Another judge in New York has not yet ruled on that request connected to the final Epstein case.

Maxwell’s attorneys, in a letter to Engelmayer, opposed the release of grand jury materials because she is aiming to seek a new trial, although they noted that Maxwell “does not take a position” in response to the request to release the files.

“Releasing the grand jury materials from her case, which contain untested and unproven allegations, would create undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial should Ms. Maxwell’s habeas petition succeed,” her attorneys stated in the Dec. 3 letter.

ZeroHedge contributed to this report

Waking up across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday morning, temperatures are hovering in the upper single digits in some spots, especially in interior areas west of the I-95 corridor. Those regions have already seen their first accumulating snow, marking an early start to winter.

Goldman sales trader Ranald Falconer updated clients on weather forecasts and natural gas markets, noting that persistent cold continues to grip the eastern half of the US, while the western part of the country is experiencing well-above-seasonal temperatures.

In the gas space, I just had a glance through Sam’s note over the weekend; definitely worth a read if you are looking at gas dynamics into next year and beyond. Forecast short term in North America looks mild across the West Coast but well below in the East over the next 10 days; our lovely polar vortex looks to be spinning and behaving into the 3rd week of December, but it’s southern edge has been spilling colder air into Alaska for the last week.

This colder than normal winter in the US is driving us to leave our end of Oct26 storage balances at a relatively low level; this leaves Winter 26/27 vulnerable to tightening shocks. We maintain our $4.50/mmBtu Summer 2026 NYMEX gas price forecast, though we close our long Apr26 trading recommendation given Summer 2026 forwards are now well above our estimated marginal cost of production. This morning I have Summer 26 HH settling at $4.004 and Cal26 $4.203.

Most important takeaway for me was the impact on continued LNG growth; potential to lead NW European storage into congestion and push TTF and JKM prices low enough to reduce LNG incentives, closing the US LNG export arb and putting pressure on Henry Hub. Flagging our $2.70/$2.75/mmBtu 2028/29 NYMEX gas price forecast, well below current forwards at $3.80/$3.71

Touching on U.S. NatGas futures, unusually cold weather across parts of the Lower 48 – mostly the eastern half – sent prices sharply higher in recent weeks and months, rising from about $3.50/MMBtu at the end of October to a peak near $5.50 last week. Warmer forecasts heading into Christmas have since driven a roughly 14% pullback.

After roughly six weeks of unseasonably cold weather across the Lower 48, a warmup appears to be materializing by the middle of the month.

But then there’s this…

NOAA flagship model GFS keeps forecasting devastating cold into Christmas.

Keep stretching/pulling on polar vortex, eventually it wrecks, and cold blasts out.

Surface pressure patterns here (Day 16) would be unprecedented in 21st Century. pic.twitter.com/w2Vvcp6OjX

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) December 8, 2025

Related:

• Timeline For “Largest-Ever LNG Supply Wave” To Hit Global Markets

Global warming and climate-crisis alarmists have been unusually quiet as of late. 

Authored by ‘sundance’ via The Last Refuge,

Highlighting exactly why Barack Obama, Joe Biden and James Clyburn needed to deploy a 2021 Machiavellian strategy to get her moved onto the Supreme Court, Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson (KBJ) argues for the supreme power of the DC bureaucracy that must not be challenged by the President of the United States (Executive Branch).

In the case of Trump v Slaughter, the removal of the FTC Chair, Justice KBJ argues that presidential authority must be kept in check by the unelected “professionals and experts” who make up the bureaucracy underneath him.  The “No Kings” argument is entirely ridiculous given the plenary power of the executive and the constitutional authority of the office.

Ketanji lost it today during oral arguments and went on a “No Kings” style rant about President Trump wanting to rule like a monarch, and how we should instead have many issues handled by “the experts and PhDs” like Dr. Fauci, Dr. “Rachel” Levine, and the gay bondage AIDS dude. pic.twitter.com/Z8qFZgZzsR

— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) December 8, 2025

Ketanji Brown-Jackson was always going to be installed in the supreme court as part of the overall Obama team’s use of Joe Biden.  Merrick Garland was removed from his position specifically to create the path for KBJ to travel.  Everything about this was planned well in advance of Biden’s installation.  KBJ is to the judicial branch what BHO was/is to the executive branch.

It was February 25th, 2020, to be precise, just four days before the South Carolina Democrat primary.  South Carolina Representative James Clyburn went backstage at the presidential debate and told Biden, “You’ve had a couple of opportunities to mention naming a Black woman to the Supreme Court,” Clyburn lectured his friend of nearly half a century, like a schoolteacher scolding a child. “I’m telling you, don’t you leave the stage tonight without making it known that you will do that.” {link}

Unbeknownst to Biden at the time, just two days earlier Barack Obama and James Clyburn came to an agreement and created the most consequential alliance of the 2020 Democrat campaign. 

Barack Obama the figurative and ideological leader of the movement known as “Black Lives Matter”, and James Clyburn the figurative and ideological leader of the political construct within the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church, had struck a deal.

Obama and Clyburn really had no choice but to come to an agreement and form the alliance. 

If they did not act fast, Bernie Sanders was gaining momentum, and they could not have Sanders at the top of the 2020 ticket, because he was too outside the club system which was now almost exclusively focused on racial identity as a tool for political power.

A Bernie Sanders -vs- Donald Trump general election would have been a disaster; and it would be almost impossible for the racial operatives in the key precincts [Atlanta (GA), Philly (PA), Clark County (NV), Wayne County (Mich), Madison (WI)] to feel inspired enough to risk themselves and commit fraud to help Bernie win.

To get rid of Sanders, BLM and AME aligned.  This was the actual moment when Hillary Clinton was cast into the pit of irrelevance in Democrat politics.

Within the agreement, Obama and Clyburn selected Biden as the tool they could easily control to deliver on their larger, progressive, leftist intentions.

I sought a nominee with the strongest credentials, record, character, and dedication to the rule of law. That’s why I’m excited to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the United States Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/iGHLqqRAD0

— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) February 25, 2022

A few days later, James Clyburn then endorsed Biden while Barack Obama began making phone calls telling each of the other candidates to drop out in sequence and support Biden or else the club would destroy them.  The only one told not to drop out yet was Elizabeth Warren, as she would be needed as the insurance policy, the splitter against Bernie Sanders.

Each of the candidates was promised the traditional indulgences for toeing the party line, and the rest is history. 

Joe Biden wandered around doing what everyone told him to do, which was mostly stay in his basement and let the club work on his behalf, until the club delivered the nomination.

Inside that process, the strategic map was modified to ensure Ketanji Brown-Jackson would advance to the Supreme Court.

With Biden installed, he would select Merrick Garland as his Attorney General.  Judge Garland was an important judge on the important DC Circuit Court. 

Garland’s replacement would need to be a Senate confirmed seat for that court.  Brown-Jackson would be put into Garland’s open spot. {Go Deep}

As a standalone Supreme Court nominee, Brown-Jackson would have been a radical pick.  Justice Brown-Jackson is a known activist in the DC District Court; however, with this maneuver she could get through nomination easier and then sit on the highest court for thirty years.

The three Republicans who voted to confirm Brown Jackson for appeals court https://t.co/h1bHRTQBEg pic.twitter.com/V3THUKOMQo

— The Hill (@thehill) February 25, 2022

Once Brown-Jackson was Senate confirmed for the DC Circuit Court, the countdown began until she was elevated as a Supreme Court nomination to replace Justice Stephen Bryer, now 83-years-old.  The Senate had no political ammunition to block or not confirm the radical SCOTUS pick, because she was confirmed a few months before with support from Republicans.

Exxon is trading sharply higher today, rising nearly 4% after the opening bell as investors reacted to a stronger long-term outlook from the company. The oil giant raised its expectations for future earnings and cash flow through 2030, driven by continued growth in its most profitable assets and additional structural cost savings. The update has pushed Exxon shares back toward 52-week and all-time highs, giving positive momentum to one of our favorite names heading into the new year. 

In its announcement, Exxon said it now expects $35 billion in cash-flow growth by 2030, an increase of about 17% from what it was projecting a year ago, with no changes to capital expenditure. The company also raised its cost-savings target, noting that savings will rise 10% to $20 billion compared with 2019 levels. These improvements come without raising spending, which suggests stronger operating efficiency, particularly in the company’s upstream business.

Much of Exxon’s confidence stems from its heavy investment in low-cost fields in the Permian Basin and Guyana. Both are profitable at less than $35 a barrel, enabling Exxon to grow production and generate earnings even as other producers struggle with prices near multi-year lows.

Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods emphasized that the company’s investment strategy during periods of skepticism—particularly during the pandemic and the ESG-driven shift away from fossil fuels—has positioned it well for the future. “Our transformation helps ensure that in any future environment, and for decades to come, Exxon Mobil will have an important role and deliver substantial shareholder value,” he said in the statement.

Bloomberg energy analyst Javier Blas wrote on Tuesday that Exxon would also “lower spending in low-carbon businesses (to ~$20 billion over the next five years, down from ~$30 billion)” and that “the company plans to stop for now the construction of several hydrogen facilities.”

“While we’re convinced that low-carbon hydrogen will be required […] the markets and customer-base are developing slowly,” Woods told him.

Exxon Mobil to lower spending in low-carbon businesses (to ~$20 billion over the next five years, down from ~$30 billion). The company plans to stop for now the construction of several hydrogen facilities.

“While we’re convinced that low-carbon hydrogen will be required […]…

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) December 9, 2025

Elsewhere production is expected to reach 5.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2030, 17% higher than current levels and 100,000 barrels a day more than forecast a year ago. Exxon attributed the increase to technology advancements, particularly in the Permian Basin, where new proprietary methods may allow the company to extract far more oil than other shale operators.

The company also plans to bring its Golden Pass natural gas export terminal online in the coming weeks, turning what was once a cheap byproduct into a global revenue source. Additional projections include capital spending of $27 billion to $29 billion in 2026, production of about 4.9 million barrels per day that year, 37% of which will come from the Permian, along with a final investment decision on a low-carbon data center project expected “by late 2026.”

Exxon added that it expects to generate cumulative surplus cash flow of $145 billion through 2030 and for earnings to grow $25 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 13%, while all 2030 corporate emissions intensity plans will be achieved in 2026.

For long-term shareholders, today’s surge reinforces why Exxon remains one of our favorite names. The company is not only growing production and earnings, it is doing so while keeping spending in check and focusing on assets that generate attractive returns in almost any pricing environment. With shares again testing record highs and investors responding positively to the stronger 2030 outlook, Exxon appears well-positioned for a breakout higher in 2026…

After a two month data hiatus, moments ago the BLS published the first jobs-linked report when it released the October JOLTS job openings and labor turnover survey. And following the last published JOLTS, which hit a little over two months ago on Sept 30, covering the month of August and which reported just 7.227 million job openings, the October report was unexpectedly strong, but not for what it showed for October but rather for the previously unreported September data, which came at a whopping 7.658MM, the highest since May, and the biggest one-month increase (+431K), since October 2024.

According to the BLS, there were no material monthly changes in October, expect for a notable plunge in the number of job openings in federal government (-25,000). And while that was accurate, a quick skim of the data 

To be sure, as noted above, the best news about today’s report is that roughly around the time of the government shutdown the number of government job openings was already the lowest since Feb 2021, while the number of Federal job openings continues to be in freefall.

What is just as interesting is that after four years of the US labor market dodging the bullet, its luck has finally run out because whereas every month since May 2021, the labor market had been supply-constrained, with more openings than jobs in the US, in July and August we finally returned to a demand constrained baseline, with fewer job openings than unemployed workers, the first negative print this series since April 2021. That said, in October, this series reversed again, with 55L more job openings than unemployed workers. Expect this to reverse again in the coming months.

Said otherwise, in October the number of job openings to unemployed was just a fraction above 1.0x, having spent the previous two months below, which in turn was a reversal of the previous 4 years.

Why does this matter? Because as we discussed recently, the US never entered a recession in a period when there were more job openings than unemployed workers (i.e. the job market was supply constrained). After the previous two months, that is no longer the case. 

Moving away from job openings, we find that both hires and quits dropped. Hiring slowed down in October, when 5.149 million workers were hired, down over 200K from 5.350 million in September. But this drop was modest compared to the plunge in the quits which slumped from 3.128 million to 2.941 million, the lowest since August 2020. The number of quits decreased in accommodation and food services (-136,000), health care and social assistance (-114,000), and federal government (-25,000). Curiously, quits in federal government in September saw a series high of 46,000. In October, quits increased in arts, entertainment, and recreation (+38,000) and in information (+21,000)

How to make sense of this data? On the surface, the JOLTS report suggests that the jobs market is much stronger than some had feared, and certainly the bottom is not falling out. It also suggests that anyone expecting an aggressive easing cycle in the immediate future will be disappointed. At the same time, the report is too close to the FOMC decision tomorrow, so it won’t change anything, and if it does impact the market, it will be odds of a January or subsequent rate cut (which will drop). At the same time, the continued collapse in both hires and quits is concerning and indicates that we can now add low quits to the “low fire, low hire” economy, which is rapidly finding a new equilibrium now that millions of illegal aliens aren’t polling the statistics, or artificially depressing wages. Neither of which makes the Fed’s role any easier… 

In a new interview with Politico released Tuesday President Trump stated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s “days are numbered” but still declined to say exactly what he has planned in terms of potential military action against Venezuela. 

He was asked specifically whether he might order boots on the ground in Venezuela, to which Trump responded simply, “I don’t comment on that.” Trump was also pressed on how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of regime change. Trump said, “I don’t want to say that.”

“But you want to see him out?” asked Politico reporter Dasha Burns. “I wouldn’t say that one way or the other,” Trump said, while criticizing the socialist strongman’s rule. But then later he conceded that he wouldn’t rule out an American ground invasion and that’s when the commander-in-chief said of Maduro, “His days are numbered.”

Donald Trump: ‘Maduro’s days are numbered.’

The brazen imperialist war to steal the world’s largest oil reserves looms. pic.twitter.com/9QgCP7k1tu

— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) December 9, 2025

But there are apparently robust plans for the ‘day after’ Maduro which have been prepared by the White House and Pentagon. These contingencies have no doubt been intensely discussed especially following the months-long major US naval build-up in the southern Caribbean.

A fresh CNN report indicates Tuesday that the “Trump administration is working on day-after plans in the event Maduro is ousted from power, according to two senior administration officials and another source familiar with the discussions.”

The sources said the plans have been “quietly drafted” and are highly classified. “They include multiple options for what US action could look like to fill the power vacuum and stabilize the country if Maduro voluntarily leaves as part of a negotiated departure or is forced into leaving after US strikes on targets inside Venezuela or other direct action, the sources said,” writes CNN.

Washington has had a recent history of facilitating regime change in supposedly ‘rogue states’ only to see once highly stable societies descend into disaster, chaos, and mass killings. Such happened everywhere from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya to most recently in Syria – where Druze, Christians, and Alawites continue to suffer at the hands of hardline Sunnis.

The Venezuela plans are being ‘closely held’ – CNN explains:

“It’s the job of the federal government to always prepare for plans A, B and C,” said a senior administration official, noting that the president would not be making the threats he’s making if he did not have a team ready with a series of options for any potential outcome.

Another source familiar with the planning said that it is “the responsibility of the US government to prepare for all scenarios around the world that may or may not unfold.” The plans are being closely held at the Homeland Security Council at the White House, the source added, which is led by Stephen Miller who has worked closely with Secretary of State and acting national security adviser Marco Rubio on the efforts related to Venezuela in recent months.

Apparently the US-supported Venezuelan opposition also factors in, and has been doing its own planning and preparations:

The opposition has been formulating “100 hour” and “100 day” plans for next steps if Maduro is ousted, and those plans have been shared with different parts of the Trump administration, a source familiar said. It is unclear how much the administration has incorporated any aspects of those plans into its thinking, the source said.

Washington has already anointed María Corina Machado and Edmundo González as the anti-Maduro oppositionists who will lead a political transition.

The US has going back to the Biden administration called Gonzalez the rightful “president-elect” of the oil-rich but corrupt country, and Trump has also described him as the true president after Maduro allegedly ‘stole’ the last election.

60 Minutes says there are only three possible outcomes in Venezuela: Maduro flees, gets captured by the US, or is assassinated. So they’re presupposing the inevitability of US-imposed regime change. Always fascinating when CBS News winds up in total alignment with the Trump Admin pic.twitter.com/ZE5zOtC4ll

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 27, 2025

Maduro is recently said to have offered serious overtures to the US regarding access to the nation’s huge underground oil reserves, but has also lately rejected Trump demands for him to immediately step down and exit the country.

President Donald Trump didn’t hold back in a new televised interview with Politico wherein he weighed in on the state of the Ukraine war and how President Zelensky is conducting himself.

Given Zelensky has put the brakes on the Trump-proposed pace plan by definitively rejecting the territorial concessions aspects to the document, the US president’s assessment was blunt and highly critical, going so far as to basically call Ukraine not a democracy. “They haven’t had an election in a long time,” Trump said. “You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”

“they’re using war not to hold an election”

President Trump calls for elections in Ukraine saying “it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore”. pic.twitter.com/mKrq1OHO4L

— Preston Stewart (@prestonstew_) December 9, 2025

At this part of the interview the discussion focused on whether Ukraine was still justified at this point in delaying elections over martial law. Trump’s conclusions is that no, it’s been far too long since all elections were canceled by Zelensky with the backing of parliament, and thus he questioned the country’s democratic credentials.

Of course, Zelensky’s presidential term expired all the way back May 2024, but has argued the constitution allows the drastic action he took during wartime.

Asked directly if Ukraine should go to the polls, Trump responded “it’s time” while explaining it is “an important time to hold an election. He said that amid years of the war with Russia “they’re using war not to hold an election” – but that Ukrainians “should have that choice.”

Trump’s words here will serve to add pressure as Zelensky’s office is already front and center in a wide-ranging energy corruption scandal, which has seen top ministers, aides, and officials forced out. Trump further assessed:

“[Zelensky] is going to have to get on the ball and start accepting things,” he said, adding that they are “losing.”

It has actually been European leaders who form the self-styled ‘coalition of the willing’ which are supporting Zelensky in resisting Washington pressures to achieve peace in any way possible. Europe even wants to leave the door open to NATO membership, which of course means Putin would never agree, and perhaps that’s the point. This was all agreed to in London this week as Europe seeks to forge a counter-plan to Trump’s.

Watch below as Trump further recounts his personal history with Zelensky, which doesn’t paint the Ukrainian leader in a very flattering light…

Trump said that when Volodymyr Zelensky first met Vladimir Putin in 2019, the Ukrainian president told him: “I want two things. I want Crimea back, and we will become a member of NATO.” Trump added that Zelensky “didn’t say it in a very nice way.”

🎥: POLITICO pic.twitter.com/HoI4QXgHAT

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) December 9, 2025

Trump again went after the Europeans in the fresh Politico interview, saying, “I think they’re weak. But I also think that they want to be so politically correct.” He added: “I think they don’t know what to do. Europe doesn’t know what to do.”

The publication said that Trump could be preparing to “abandon” Ukraine and the war effort altogether. “Trump’s comments about Europe come at an especially precarious moment in the negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as European leaders express intensifying alarm that Trump may abandon Ukraine and its continental allies to Russian aggression,” Politico wrote. “In the interview, Trump offered no reassurance to Europeans on that score and declared that Russia was obviously in a stronger position than Ukraine,” it noted.

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Elon Musk escalated his confrontation with Brussels on Monday, declaring on X that “the EU commissars are responsible for the murder of Europe” after the European Commission insisted it would “make sure” the social media platform pays the €120 million fine imposed last week for alleged violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Commission announced on Friday that X had breached transparency rules and used deceptive design practices under the bloc’s online-platform regulation, with specific criticism of its blue-tick verification system. The EU regulator said the system exposes people to scams, impersonation, and manipulation by malicious actors.

The move prompted a swift backlash in Washington as senior U.S. officials accused the EU of censorship, regulatory harassment, and unfair targeting of American technology firms. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments. The days of censoring Americans online are over.”

Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, likewise criticized the EU action, saying, “Once again, Europe is fining a successful U.S. tech company for being a successful U.S. tech company. Europe is taxing Americans to subsidize a continent held back by Europe’s own suffocating regulations.”

Today’s excessive €120M fine is the result of EU regulatory overreach targeting American innovation. The Trump Administration has been clear: we oppose censorship and will challenge burdensome regulations that target US companies abroad. We expect the EU to engage in fair, open,… https://t.co/EAld2QJaen

— U.S. Ambassador to the EU (@USAmbEU) December 6, 2025

Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, added that “the Digital Services Act is designed to stifle free speech and American tech companies,” while U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder described the penalty as “excessive” and a result of “EU regulatory overreach.”

Musk has frequently clashed with liberal Western governments, accusing them of suppressing free expression. In recent months, he has publicly backed figures on Europe’s political right, including Alice Weidel of Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) and several anti-mass immigration MPs in the United Kingdom, such as Rupert Lowe.

The EU commissars are responsible for the murder of Europe https://t.co/xVJDn6P8tn

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 8, 2025

“Remigration is the normal position,” Musk wrote on Monday, remarking on a poll indicating that seven in ten Danes support deporting foreign nationals convicted of crimes.

Over the weekend, he intensified his criticism of Brussels by calling for the “abolition” of the European Union, claiming it prioritizes bureaucracy over democracy. “Dissolve the EU and return power to the people,” he wrote while commenting on a European Court of Justice ruling last year that upheld a financial penalty against Hungary for refusing to accept migrant quotas under the EU Migration Pact. That scheme requires member states either to accept allocated asylum seekers or pay roughly €20,000 per person as a solidarity contribution.

Musk has also claimed the controversy has boosted X’s popularity. He said the platform was seeing “record-breaking downloads in many countries in Europe” following the announcement of the fine, calling X the number one news app “in every EU country.”

Now number 1 in every EU country! https://t.co/tQOpiPVRkw

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2025

At the Commission’s daily briefing on Monday, spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the penalty would be enforced. “X will have to pay that fine. The €120 million will have to be paid. We will make sure that we get this money,” he told reporters.

Regnier said the Commission would continue to use X to communicate with the public despite the platform’s decision to suspend the Commission’s account for paid advertising in response to the penalty. He said the EU executive uses all its social media accounts, including those on X, “to get in touch with citizens, stakeholders, to do some outreach work, to precisely speak about what we are doing in the EU.”

X can still challenge the decision, and Regnier confirmed the company “has 90 days to get back” to the Commission on how it intends to proceed.

Read more here…