(End of the American Dream)—We have reached one of the most critical turning points in modern history, but most people don’t seem to understand this. Without a doubt, 2025 has been a year of war. There has been war in Ukraine, war in Iran, war in Gaza, and lots of other regional conflicts as well. But as I have been warning my readers, 2026 could potentially be far worse.
Decisions that world leaders make during the months ahead will determine which way things go. Let us hope that they make their choices wisely.
According to CNN, White House officials are coming up with plans for how to stabilize Venezuela once Nicolas Maduro is removed from power…
Months into a pressure campaign that has seen the US military move thousands of troops and a carrier strike group into the Caribbean and President Donald Trump issue repeated threats against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, 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 plans are being quietly drafted and closely held at the White House, the sources said.
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.
The only reason such plans would be necessary is if the White House really does intend to remove Maduro from power.
When he was asked about Maduro’s future by Politico, President Trump openly admitted that his “days are numbered”…
President Trump warned in a new interview that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s “days are numbered” and refused to rule out sending US ground troops to depose the left-wing leader.
The president stressed in the sitdown with Politico released Tuesday that Maduro could not be allowed to stay in power as the administration cracks down on South American drug trafficking, but declined to tip his hand about what the US could or would do to cause regime change.
When reporter and “The Conversation” podcast host Dasha Burns asked how far Trump was willing to go to oust Maduro, the president merely responded, “I don’t want to say that.”
For weeks, there has been a lot of speculation that an operation to remove Maduro could begin soon.
Speculation about such an operation ramped up even more when we learned that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was scheduled to give a private briefing to leaders of both houses of Congress on Tuesday…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other key national security officials are scheduled to brief Congressional leaders Tuesday on the administration’s actions in Venezuela.
The briefing is expected to be given to the so-called “Gang of 8,” which includes the top leaders of each party in each chamber, as well as the Senate and House Intelligence Committee’s chairman and ranking minority member.
Could this be an indication that military action against Venezuela is imminent?
I don’t know.
But if the U.S. does attack Venezuela, the Chinese are going to be absolutely furious with us.
The Chinese import a tremendous amount of oil from Venezuela, and the Venezuelans have borrowed tens of billions of dollars from them.
The Russians have very close ties with Venezuela as well, and most Americans don’t even realize that the USS Stockdale recently intercepted a Russian tanker as it approached the Venezuelan coastline…
The interception of a sanctioned Russian tanker by the USS Stockdale near Venezuela has turned a slow-burning sanctions story into a visible test of sea power, energy leverage, and political resolve in the Caribbean. As Washington tightens the screws on fuel shipments that have been worth roughly 3 billion dollars to Nicolás Maduro’s government, the encounter signals that the era of quiet workarounds is giving way to open contests on the water.
The USS Stockdale literally got directly in front of the Russian tanker, and the tanker eventually decided to conduct a U-turn rather than risk a direct confrontation…
The Russian tanker at the heart of this episode was not an ordinary commercial ship, it was part of a sprawling sanctions-busting network that Moscow has built to keep its oil flowing despite Western restrictions. When the vessel, identified as the Seahorse, was forced into a U-turn in the Caribbean after encountering a U.S. destroyer, the maneuver exposed how vulnerable this so-called shadow fleet becomes when confronted by a determined naval presence. The Seahorse’s retreat was not just a navigational adjustment, it was a public demonstration that even heavily sanctioned operators will back down when the risk of escalation at sea becomes too high.
Overthrowing the Venezuelan government will cause our relations with both Russia and China to seriously deteriorate.
Is that really a wise move?
In addition to threatening Venezuela, President Trump is also considering conducting strikes in Mexico and Colombia…
President Donald Trump has said he would consider expanding his military campaign against drugs targets in countries such as Mexico and Colombia.
Since September, Trump has authorized several strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on small Venezuelan boats accused of ferrying drugs, as well as a large buildup of U.S. naval forces in the region.
In an interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns, Trump was asked if he would consider expanding strikes against targets in other countries with high drugs trade activity, such as Mexico and Colombia.
“Sure, I would,” he said.
If we start hitting targets in Mexico and Colombia without their permission, we will be in a state of war with those two nations.
Colombia is one of the largest producers of cocaine on the entire planet, and more fentanyl comes into this country from Mexico than anywhere else.
But going to war with them would make us “the bad guys” in the eyes of most of the rest of the world.
The anger that we are already witnessing in Central America and South America should not be underestimated. At a recent Christmas festival in Guatemala, an effigy of President Trump was set on fire by enraged protesters…
This year’s event drew international attention after a giant piñata depicting US President Donald Trump was set alight in protest against his immigration policies. The figure, designed with horns and eight legs, became the centrepiece of the ritual in Guatemala City.
Footage from Sunday shows crowds gathering to watch the torching of the Trump-themed effigy, accompanied by fireworks as part of the celebration. For many participants, the act carries symbolic meaning. With many participants viewing the burning of a small devil figure as a way to cast out misfortune and start the year renewed, a sentiment often expressed by regular piñata buyers who take part in the tradition.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is once again pledging that the Ukrainians will never willingly hand over any territory to the Russians…
Ukraine will not surrender territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Monday, rejecting a central Russian demand that President Donald Trump had incorporated into his latest proposal to end the Kremlin’s war.
“Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away,” Zelensky said, after meeting with top European leaders to discuss Trump’s plan Monday. “That is what we are fighting for.”
We are being told that this kills any chance for a peace deal.
But of course there never was going to be a peace deal.
The Ukrainians never intended to give the Russians what they want, and so the Russians are just going to continue to take it…
Russian forces took control of the villages of Kucherivka in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region and Rivne in the eastern Donetsk region, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
Moscow carried out group strikes on Ukrainian transport infrastructure, fuel and energy facilities, military airfields and long-range drone complexes, the ministry added.
The line of control is moving on a daily basis.
Kramatorsk is one of Ukraine’s last remaining strongholds in the Donetsk region, and the Russians are steadily drawing closer…
In one of the last remaining cities under Ukrainian control in the country’s eastern Donetsk region, once a powerhouse of industry, life gets more difficult — and dangerous — as Russian forces inch closer.
Over the last month, local officials in Kramatorsk have reported dozens of Russian attacks on the city using strike drones, ballistic missiles, rockets and aerial bombs. Homes, gas stations and markets have all been hit, as has a nearby power plant, causing blackouts.
“There was a recent strike on the house next to mine,” said Olena Frolova, 20, who works in a shop that sells Donetsk-branded clothing in Kramatorsk. “We all feel that the front is getting closer. Your life depends on how our guys at the front hold on.”
With each passing day, the pressure on our European allies to intervene in Ukraine grows even stronger.
To most EU leaders, allowing the Russians to win this war would be completely and utterly unacceptable.
But the Ukrainians have no chance of defeating the Russians by themselves.
At some point EU leaders may give in to temptation and start sending large numbers of troops into Ukraine, and that will put us right on the brink of nuclear war.
Interestingly, the UK Ministry of Defence just announced that a member of the UK Armed Forces has died in Ukraine…
Once our European allies are directly fighting the Russians, it will just be a matter of time before we are directly fighting them too.
In the Pacific, the war of words between Japan and China is rapidly approaching a boiling point…
Beijing escalated its war of words with Tokyo after Japan said Chinese fighter jets aimed a fire-control radar at Japanese F-15s flying near Okinawa, an action Tokyo called “dangerous” and “extremely regrettable.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in Beijing that “Japan is threatening China militarily,” a stance he called “completely unacceptable,” after the radar incident, Reuters reported.
Wang accused Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of “trying to exploit the Taiwan question — the very territory Japan colonized for half a century, committing countless crimes against the Chinese people — to provoke trouble and threaten China militarily. This is completely unacceptable,” Wang said, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. He added that Japan, as a World War II “defeated nation,” should act with greater caution.
If the Japanese and the Chinese actually start shooting at one another, there is no way that we could stay out of it.
Today, we have approximately 120 military installations in Japan.
We are Japan’s protector, and the Chinese know that.
I have been warning about a coming war with China for a very long time.
But we could soon be facing a scenario in which we aren’t just facing one opponent.
If the wrong decisions are made, we could potentially find ourselves fighting Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Russia and China simultaneously.
Needless to say, we should be trying to avoid such a scenario any way that we can.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
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