‘Donroe’ Trump 2.0 And The Return Of American Hemisphere Power

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – President Trump claims assets belonging to U.S. companies were stolen by Venezuela when it nationalized its oil industry in 1976, and a renegotiation of contracts in 2007.

The 22 foreign oil companies, which controlled about 70% of the $5 billion Venezuelan oil industry at the time, received $1 billion in 1977.

When Venezuelan revolutionary socialist leader Hugo Chávez wanted to renegotiate contracts with foreign oil companies, Chevron agreed to the new terms, but ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips refused, seeking $40 billion in compensation.

The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes awarded ExxonMobil $1.6 billion and $8.7 billion to ConocoPhillips.

Oil revenues have been central to Venezuela’s collapsing economy for almost a century, now accounting for about 88% of the nation’s roughly $24 billion in exports.

But years of gross mismanagement, widespread corruption, allying with Russia, China, and Iran, and to a lesser degree, the impact of U.S. sanctions, have driven production sharply downward, deepening the country’s economic crisis and diminishing its ability to pay the compensation that is due.

READ MORE HERE:

Venezuela’s oil supply to rise in years ahead and depress prices, say analysts.

Venezuela: How not to run an oil sector.

Trump says Venezuela stole U.S. oil, land and assets. Here’s the history.

Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate.

Trump’s Venezuela Oil Revival Plan Is a $100 Billion Gamble.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

THE PDB – Not the President’s Daily Briefing, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

Why Trump is claiming the U.S. “needs” Greenland for Arctic security. Due to the warming Arctic, Greenland is now key to global trade and security, and the president wants the U.S. to control this mineral-rich island that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

Federal agencies and private groups are keeping their eyes peeled for hacking and information-warfare efforts launched in response to the U.S. raid in Venezuela. The attack has raised concerns that countries aligned with Venezuela, such as China or Russia, may launch retaliatory cyberattacks on U.S. soil.

DEFENSE POLITICS

Pentagon launched a formal review of the “effectiveness” of women in ground-combat positions, nearly a decade after it ended the ban that excluded them from front-line infantry, armor, and artillery units.

VENEZUELA RAID

“This was surgical”: Tactics behind Nicolás Maduro’s capture mission. It all hinged on a narrow break in Venezuela’s weather. When that window opened, U.S. forces moved fast, launching more than 150 aircraft from 20 bases in a high-risk operation to capture the dictator Maduro from the country’s populated capital.

In the aftermath of the Venezuela raid, the Pentagon’s top leadership has been making the case that a strong, capable Navy is key.

In a post on X, Trump praised the Navy’s EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft in Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela.

The Air Force released nearly a dozen photos of F-22 and F-35 fighters returning to Puerto Rico after supporting the raid to capture Maduro.

F-22s and some other U.S. military assets leave the Caribbean as the Trump administration maps out a Venezuela strategy. Team Trump has seemingly deferred the option of a wider military campaign and is relying instead on a naval oil embargo to influence the country’s leadership.

Why Stealth Black Hawks weren’t used for the Maduro capture mission. Planning and prep for the operation to mirror, to a degree, that of the raid that led to the death of terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden. However, one asset featured prominently in the Bin Laden mission appears absent from the helo force that descended on Caracas: stealthy Black Hawk helicopters. There are reasons why, but also prompts questions about the current status of those helicopters and possible successor platforms.

MADURO RAID AFTERMATH

Venezuela’s Nobel prize-winning democratic opposition leader, María Corina Machado, praised the “flawless” U.S. military mission to capture Maduro and his wife, saying the operation will go down in history as “the day justice defeated tyranny.”

After the U.S. move on Venezuela, and renewed comments by President Trump claiming Greenland, some Europeans and other analysts see the rules-based order at risk.

U.S.’s Venezuela blitz spooks some Canadian officials, renewing concerns over Trump’s annexation threats and Ottawa’s deep military dependence on Washington.

Crew of the runaway, allegedly now suddenly “Russian-flagged” oil tanker, Marinera, released by the U.S. Coast Guard Legend-class cutter in close pursuit, as U.S. military buildup in the U.K. continues, potentially for U.S. boarding of the vessel.

NARCO THREAT

Since early September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted strikes against drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean in support of continued counternarcotics efforts. Here they are.

CHINA THREAT

China imposed controls on exports to Japan for any military use, intensifying the dispute between Asia’s top economies over remarks Japan’s Prime Minister made last year, suggesting Japan would help defend Taiwan.

India is tightening military ties with Southeast Asian countries, with deals to sell advanced missiles and enhancing security cooperation in the region, where several countries are involved in maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea.

RUSSIA THREAT

VIDEO: U.K. inks deal to keep Royal Marine commandos in Norway year-round.

UKRAINE WAR

European leaders hail U.S. backstop to protect postwar Ukraine. Team Trump and Ukraine’s allies converged toward an agreement to offer security guarantees long sought by Kyiv during a meeting of the coalition of the willing.

U.K. and France agree to set up military hubs across Ukraine after the ceasefire. Commitments would come as part of a potential agreement to end the war with Russia.

Russian forces modified Shahed-136 one-way attack drones to carry man-portable air defense missiles, marking a tactical evolution aimed at Ukrainian fighters deployed to intercept slow-moving Russian drones.

MIDDLE EAST THREATS

Amid growing protests in Iran, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO said the Iranian people “want to be free” and that citizens deserve to be “listened to.”

Syria’s new government and Israel agreed to form a joint, U.S.-supervised group to share intelligence and pursue military de-escalation. The rare meeting comes amid Israeli strikes and U.S. concern over too much pressure on Syria’s fragile leadership.

US MILITARY

Pentagon tasked Lockheed Martin to more than triple the current production of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors to over 2,000 a year.

Air Force airmen can now skip the 2-mile run for at least one biannual physical fitness test, and the Space Force now requires all guardians to take their fitness test twice a year.

Navy SEAL trainees and other sailors hoping to join the toughest Navy jobs have to pass many brutal fitness tests. But beginning this year, fully qualified SEALs and others in combat roles must now pass this specific Navy-wide Combat Fitness Test each year to keep their jobs.

VETERANS

A trio of federal watchdog reports found conditions at VA hospitals that posed “suicide hazards” and other risks to mental health patients.

Certain state veterans cemeteries across the country received nearly $80 million in grants from the VA in FY 2025 for their expansion and improvement.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

READ NEXT: Beloved Conservative Commentator And GOP Icon Passes Away