“We are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region. And our home region is very different than it was just a short while ago,” Trump said. “We have far greater dominance right now. Everyone’s coming back to us.”

Trump wasted no time warning other South American leaders they could be next if they don’t align themselves with U.S. interests. “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them,” Trump said, with a pointed warning to the leftist president of Venezuela’s next-door neighbor, Colombia, Gustavo Petro. “He has cocaine mills. He has factories where he makes cocaine,” Trump said. “He’s making cocaine. They’re sending it into the United States. So he does have to watch his ass.”

Speaking to reporters on his return trip to Washington on Air Force One, Trump called Petro “a very sick man who likes to make cocaine,” and warned, “he will not be around for very long.” Asked whether he might order the U.S. to conduct an operation against Colombia, Trump replied, “It sounds good to me. You know why? Because they kill a lot of people.”

TRUMP’S NEW NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY A THROWBACK TO 1823

CUBA AND GREENLAND: Trump has been saying for months that the United States needs to take over the Danish territory of Greenland as a matter of national security. Yesterday, he mocked Denmark for allegedly failing to protect the strategic Arctic island.

“You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security on Greenland? They added one more dog sled. It’s true. They thought that was a great move,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”

In a telephone interview with The Atlantic on Sunday, Trump said it was up to others to decide what U.S.-military action in Venezuela means for Greenland. “You know, I wasn’t referring to Greenland at that time. But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”

“Cuba is an interesting case,” Trump said Saturday. “I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing nation right now, very badly failing nation. And we want to help the people.”

To which Secretary of State Marco Rubio added, “When the president speaks, you should take him seriously. Suffice it to say, you know, Cuba is a disaster. It’s run by incompetent, senile men and in some cases, not senile, but incompetent.”

“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least a little bit,” Rubio said. “Look, the president doesn’t go out looking for people to pick fights with. He generally wants to get along with everybody, [and] will talk and meet with anybody. But don’t play games. Don’t play games while this president’s in office, because it’s not going to turn out well.”

US HAS ‘NO RIGHT’ TO ANNEX GREENLAND, DANISH PM SAYS, URGING END TO THREATS

YES, IT’S ABOUT THE OIL: While Trump called Maduro the “kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States,” and blamed him for the deaths of “hundreds of thousands” over the years, Trump made clear his major interest in controlling Venezuela was in regaining rights to its vast oil reserves, the world’s largest.

The deadly opioid Fentanyl, the stated reason for U.S. attacks on some three dozen suspected drug boats that have killed 115 people, was not mentioned by Trump at his press conference, nor was it referenced in the new superseding indictment released by the Justice Department outlining the narco-terrorism charges against Maduro.

Instead, Trump spent most of his time describing his plans to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure and running it with U.S. oil companies, who he said would pay for the rebuilding. “​​We’re going to get the oil flowing the way it should be,” Trump said. “And we’re going to make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of. We’re going to make sure the people that were forced out of Venezuela by this thug are also taken care of,” a reference to the U.S. oil companies that operated in the country before Venezuela nationalized its oil reserves.

“We’ll be selling oil probably in much larger doses because they couldn’t produce very much because their infrastructure was so bad,” Trump said. “So we’ll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries, many of whom are using it now, but I would say many more will come.”

Including, Trump said, to China, currently one of Venezuela’s best customers. “I have a very good relationship with President Xi and there’s not going to be a problem and they’re going to get oil,” Trump said on Fox.

TOM ROGAN OPINION: CAPTURING MADURO WAS THE EXTRAORDINARILY CHALLENGING BUT EASIER PART

Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.

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HAPPENING TODAY: The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting at 10 a.m. after Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for the session after the U.S. military operation in Venezuela and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said via a spokesperson that he is “deeply alarmed” over the events of the weekend, which could “constitute a dangerous precedent.”

ALSO TODAY: The 63-year-old Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, make their first appearance in a federal court in Manhattan at noon to face charges of narco-terrorism. They are both set to appear before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. It is unclear if either has retained counsel or would enter pleas. Maduro and his co-defendants, which also include his son, are charged with “abusing their positions of public trust and corrupting once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States.”

“Maduro … is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States, including providing Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitating diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela,” the indictment read. 

“Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, is at the forefront of that corruption,” the charges read.

HAPPENING TONIGHT: With Democrats irate about about being kept in the dark about the Venezuela mission and complaining loudly that under the Constitution, it required congressional authorization, Secretary of State Marko Rubio and other Trump Cabinet members will meet with a select group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill later today to provide a classified briefing on the mission.

On Saturday, Rubio argued the massive mission, which involved 1500 aircraft, “was not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on.”

“It’s largely a law enforcement function. Remember, at the end of the day, at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice. And the Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job,” Rubio said. “It was a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days. So it’s just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days.”

“Plus,” Trump added. “Congress has a tendency to leak. This would not be good.”

The chairs and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations, Senate Armed Services, House Foreign Affairs, and House Armed Services Committees are expected to be at the closed-door briefing.

CONGRESS TO BE BRIEFED BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ON VENEZUELA STRIKES

TRUMP: ‘WE ARE IN CHARGE’: President Trump raised a lot of concern Saturday when he said the U.S. was going to “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” and indicated that “we’re going to have a group of people running it.”

Trump also said he’s not averse to sending troops into Caracas if necessary and that plans for a second wave of airstrikes are on hold for now. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to,” Trump said. “We’re not afraid of it. We don’t mind saying it, but we’re going to make sure that that country is run properly.”

On the Sunday shows, Marco Rubio tried to tamp down any expectation that the U.S. would be sending troops to Venezuela. He outlined a strategy in which a crippling oil embargo and total blockade of the country would force the interim government to take orders from Trump.

“We have a quarantine on their oil. That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interest of the Venezuelan people are met,” Rubio said on ABC. “We want them to have an oil industry where the wealth goes to the people, not to a handful of corrupt individuals and stolen by, you know, pirates all over the world.”

“That’s what we’re working towards, and we intend to use the leverage we have to help achieve that,” Rubio said, indicating he expects the government now led by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez to play ball.

“If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, adding the question of whether U.S. troops will be deployed “depends on what happens.”

Asked directly who was in charge right now in Venezuela, Trump said, “We are dealing with the people who have been sworn in. Don’t ask me who is in charge because I will give you an answer, and it will be very controversial.”

“What does that mean?” a reporter pressed. 

“We are in charge,” Trump maintained. 

TRUMP SAYS US ‘IN CHARGE’ OF VENEZUELA, NEW LEADER IS ‘COOPERATING’

THE RUNDOWN:

Washington Examiner: Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela, new leader is ‘cooperating’

Washington Examiner: Trump says new Venezuelan leader will pay ‘bigger’ price than Maduro if she resists US

Washington Examiner: Venezuelan government reasserts control over Caracas after Maduro arrest

Washington Examiner: Rubio insists US would be running Venezuelan ‘policy,’ says he’s ‘very involved

Washington Examiner: US ‘cannot run’ Venezuela, former Trump envoy says’

Washington Examiner: Cotton says US military presence in Venezuela ‘always an option’ after Maduro ouster

Washington Examiner: General ‘Razin’ Caine divulges details on Trump Venezuela operation that captured Maduro

Washington Examiner: US forces killed ‘large part’ of Maduro’s security team during capture, defense minister says

Washington Examiner: Congress to be briefed by Trump administration on Venezuela strikes

Washington Examiner: UN to hold emergency meeting over Trump Venezuela strikes

Washington Examiner: Maduro abduction coincides with anniversary of Noriega raid in Panama

Washington Examiner: What did Russia accomplish in the war in Ukraine in 2025?

Washington Examiner: Kim Jong Un’s daughter takes center stage at dynastic ceremony

Washington Examiner: Zelensky selects Ukraine spy chief Kyrylo Budanov to replace disgraced chief of staff

Washington Examiner: Europe struggles to keep pace as US cracks the whip on defensive self-reliance

Washington Examiner: The Chinese ambitions behind threats of a ‘multipolar world’

Washington Examiner: Germany’s Merz says Europe must ‘defend and assert’ interests amid ‘changing’ relations with US

Washington Examiner: US has ‘no right’ to annex Greenland, Danish PM says, urging end to threats

Washington Examiner: Tom Carney Opinion: This wasn’t an arrest in Venezuela. This was an unauthorized regime-change war

Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Capturing Maduro was the extraordinarily challenging but easier part

Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: China teaches Trump two lessons on Taiwan

Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Russia overextends its deception fetish with invented Ukrainian attack on Putin

Washington Examiner: Opinion: What Trump should do if Ukraine peace talks collapse

The Atlantic: Trump Threatens Venezuela’s New Leader With a Fate Worse Than Maduro’s

Reuters: Venezuela’s interim president offers US cooperation after Trump says further strike possible

Reuters: Trump bets on intimidation to force Venezuelan leaders into line

Wall Street Journal: Venezuela’s New Leader Is a Hardline Socialist Like Maduro

Semafor: News organizations held off on reporting Venezuela raid

The War Zone: RQ-170 Sentinel Stealth Drone Supported Maduro Capture Mission

Defense One: US Spy Agencies Contributed to Operation That Captured Maduro

The Hill: Noem: Venezuelans under TPS can apply for refugee status

AP: Fact Focus: Trump repeats false claims as he discusses US raid to extract Venezuela’s president

Wall Street Journal: Iran’s Calculations Are Scrambled by U.S. Raid in Caracas

New York Times: The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership

New York Times: In Ukraine, a New Arsenal of Killer AI Drones Is Being Born

Wall Street Journal: Chinese Military Drills Send ‘Stern Warning’ After US Arms Sales to Taiwan

New York Times: How Oil, Drugs and Immigration Fueled Trump’s Venezuela Campaign

Washington Post: US Operations in Syria Against Islamic State Kill Seven, Capture Fighters

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Tackles Near-Term Training Needs with an Eye Toward a High-Fidelity Range

DefenseScoop: AFSOC Looks to Add Starlink Terminals to Ghostrider Gunships

Air & Space Forces Magazine: US Bets on On-Orbit Satellite Servicing with 4 Missions in 2026

New York Times: 2 Navy Service Members Accused of Entering Sham Marriages With Chinese Nationals

Military.com: Waist-to-Height Ratio Now Central to Military Body-Composition Standards

AP: Trump wants to overhaul the ‘president’s golf course.’ He hasn’t played there yet

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026

THE CALENDAR: 

MONDAY | JANUARY 5 

5:30 p.m. — Senate scheduled to vote on the nomination of Keith Bass to be an assistant secretary of defense

7 p.m. 2 15th St. NW — Final night of “Freedom 250: Washington Monument Lighting and New Year’s Eve Show” https://events.freedom250.org/credentialing/yrdyfxvugy

TUESDAY | JANUARY 6 

1 p.m.1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council in-person and virtual discussion: “The next chapter of transatlantic affairs,” with Maxime Prevot, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, European affairs and development cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium; and Jorn Fleck, senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/belgiums-foreign-minister

WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 7 

11 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and American Enterprise Institute virtual discussion: “Battlefield Lessons from Ukraine: Rethinking Defense Production,” with Kori Schake, AEI director of foreign policy studies; William Greenwalt, AEI senior fellow; Mariano-Florentino “Tino” Cuellar, CEIP president; and Dara Massicot, senior fellow at the CEIP Russia and Eurasia Program https://carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/12/battlefield-lessons-from-ukraine

THURSDAY | JANUARY 8 

8:45 a.m. 11493 Sunset Hills Rd., Reston, Va. — Naval Submarine League 43rd annual Symposium and Industry Update, with Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby; Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program Director Adm. Bill Houston; Naval Submarine Forces Commander Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher; Naval Submarine Forces Commander Rear Adm. Rick Seif; Attack Submarines Program Executive Officer Rear Adm. Jon Rucker; Strategic Submarines Program Executive Officer Rear Adm. Todd Weeks https://navalsubleague.org/events/asiu

2 p.m. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy virtual forum: “Crisis Diplomacy in the Middle East: Insights from the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden Teams,” with former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; former Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS James Jeffrey, WINEP fellow; Robert Satloff, WINEP executive director; and former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for the Middle East Dana Stroul, WINEP senior fellow https://washingtoninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register

3 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council event: “Cosmic coordination: Space diplomacy in an era of strategic competition,” with Michael Overby, deputy director of space affairs at the State Department; Taylor Jordan, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce; and United Arab Emirates Commercial Attache to the U.S. Jawaher Al Mheiri RSVP: [email protected]

FRIDAY | JANUARY 9 

7 p.m. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW — Politics and Prose book discussion: Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th, with author Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press reporter https://politics-prose.com/mary-clare-jalonick