REPORT: Trump Considering Naval Blockade of Cuba With Plan For Regime Change by Year End
January 24, 2026
The Trump administration is reportedly considering a naval blockade of Cuba.
According to Politico, Trump officials are weighing their options as they seek to drive regime change on the communist island for the first time in nearly 70 years.
After the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, the Cuban regime is weaker than ever due to a cut-off in vital oil supplies from their socialist Caribbean ally.
The Trump administration is weighing new tactics to drive regime change in Cuba, including imposing a total blockade on oil imports to the Caribbean country, three people familiar with the plan said Thursday.
That escalation has been sought by some critics of the Cuban government in the administration and backed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to two of the three people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions.
No decision has been made on whether to approve that move, but it could be among the suite of possible actions presented to President Donald Trump to force the end of Cuba’s communist government, these people added.
Preventing shipments of crude oil to the island would be a step-up from Trump’s statement last week that the U.S. would halt Cuba’s imports of oil from Venezuela, which had been its main crude supplier.
Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is personally seeking regime change in Cuba, believing it will help cement his political legacy.
The Journal noted:
Emboldened by the U.S. ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration is searching for Cuban government insiders who can help cut a deal to push out the Communist regime by the end of the year, people familiar with the matter said.
The Trump administration has assessed that Cuba’s economy is close to collapse and that the government has never been this fragile after losing a vital benefactor in Maduro, these people said.
Officials don’t have a concrete plan to end the Communist government that has held power on the Caribbean island for almost seven decades, but they see Maduro’s capture and subsequent concessions from his allies left behind as a blueprint and a warning for Cuba, senior U.S. officials said.
Trump and his inner circle, many members of which have Florida ties, see toppling Cuba’s Communist regime as the defining test of his national-security strategy to remake the hemisphere, according to officials.
It appears the clock is ticking for the communist regime in Havana.
AG Pam Bondi Vows to Prosecute Don Lemon Over Minnesota Church Storming: ‘We Are Coming After You!’ (VIDEO)
January 24, 2026
Attorney General Pam Bondi didn’t hold back during an appearance on Hannity on Friday, labeling former CNN anchor Don Lemon an “online agitator” and promising to pursue charges against him for his role in protesters storming a Minnesota church.
Bondi asserted that no one, not even a “failed CNN journalist,” is above the law when it comes to terrorizing people attending a religious service.
Last Sunday, far-left anti-ICE activists stormed the church while accusing the pastor of collaborating with ICE to deport illegal aliens.
Lemon appeared to have advanced knowledge of the raid, livestreamed it, and conducted interviews with people attending the church that seemed to be gaslighting them in an attempt to push the activist’s narrative.
During her Fox News appearance, Bondi, speaking directly to the camera, declared, “If you protested and went into that church on Sunday, and you terrorized the parishioners, we are coming after you… I don’t care who you are, if you’re a failed CNN journalist, you have no right to do that in this country. We don’t live in a third-world country. We’re going to protect our houses of worship in this country.”
Her vow comes after a Biden-appointed federal magistrate judge shockingly refused to approve initial charges against Lemon and two other key figures in the protest, Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Allen.
Bondi said the DOJ will not back down, promising to “pursue this to the ends of the Earth.”
WATCH:
BREAKING: AG Bondi just went HARD after Don Lemon, promising she’s “COMING AFTER” him
“Don Lemon is an ONLINE AGITATOR… We are coming after you if you participated in that. I don’t care If you’re a failed CNN journalist, you have no right to do… pic.twitter.com/gbcoVwdilR
Lemon has responded to the vows to hold him accountable defiantly, daring the Trump DOJ to arrest him, and saying, “Go ahead. Make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel if you want.”
“I stand proud, and I stand tall. This is not a victory lap for me, because it’s not over. They’re going to try again… And guess what? Here I am. Keep trying. That’s not going to stop me from being a journalist. You’re not going to diminish my voice. Go ahead. Make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel if you want,” Lemon said during Thursday’s episode of his YouTube show. “Just do it. Because I’m not going anywhere… None of this is about justice. This is about power. And it’s about people who are incompetent. It’s not about justice.”
Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, responded to the challenge in a post on X, writing, “okay.”
Anonymous Maniac’s 12-Page Manifesto Sent to California GOP Chapter Declares BLOODY WAR on ICE Agents, Demands They Be Shredded and Sent ‘Home in BODY BAGS’
January 24, 2026
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
An anonymous 12-page letter was mailed to the Sonoma County Republican Party in Northern California, calling for an all-out violent war against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, demanding they be “sent home in body bags.”
The disturbing document, titled “A Real American Response to Foreign Terrorist Invasions,” labels ICE personnel as “low-IQ, trigger-happy domestic terrorists” and mocks them for “living out their ‘Call of Duty’ fantasy army roles, only with real assault weapons.”
The letter explicitly urges that ICE agents be targeted and eliminated, stating they should be sent “home in a body bag.”
It accuses the agents of inflicting a “real foreign invasion–style war” on unarmed men, women, and children, and condemns Republican lawmakers for backing the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The manifesto references the recent shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, where she was fatally shot by an ICE agent after attempting to ram her vehicle into him, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The letter promotes outright violence, declaring, “Since ICE-DHS make so light of our innocent citizens’ lives, then it is time to show ICE how light and worthless their lives are.”
It suggests ICE agents and their supporters be “IED’d, run over with vehicles, shot at by snipers, sprayed with toxic chemicals.”
Shockingly, pages two and three even provide detailed instructions on constructing a chemical improvised explosive device (IED), described as a “shrapnel device guaranteed to shred the legs, genitals, face, eyeballs, and hands of murdering ICE agents and their bosses.”
The document includes images of ICE agents and emphasizes on page seven that “No official of any party had anything to do with the composing or distributing of this document; it is strictly a private ‘patriotic effort,’ like Donald Trump’s January 6th Washington, D.C., insurgents.”
There was no name, return address, or specific mention of Sonoma County in the mailing.
Several Trump administration officials are also mentioned, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who has been sharply critical of ICE and the Trump administration’s crackdown on criminal illegal immigrants.
The chapter promptly reported the threat to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.
This incident comes amid a reported 1,300% surge in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats against ICE agents, as detailed by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month.
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 23, 2026
The post was a less-than-subtle mocking of Bessent’s homosexuality, which is deeply ironic given Newsom’s obsession with being an LGBT “ally.”
As Treasury Secretary, Bessent is the most powerful openly gay man in the United States government, a fact that deeply disturbs and confuses the left.
It was also a follow-up to a public spat between the two men at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this week.
“It’s time to buck up, it’s time to get serious and stop being complicit,” Newsom said of the Trump presidency during an interview on the sidelines of the conference.
“It’s time to stand tall and firm and have a backbone,” he continued.
”I’ve seen this in the United States. A supine Congress playing both sides… It’s time to stand strong.”
Newsom Blasts ‘Pathetic’ World Leaders at Davos, Says They’re ‘Rolling Over’ for Trump
“It’s time to buck up. It’s time to get serious. And stop being complicit. It’s time to stand tall and firm — have a backbone.” pic.twitter.com/920Moq25Am
Bessent later responded by ridiculing Newsom’s poor understanding of economics.
“I think it’s very, very ironic that Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ben, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris,” Bessent quipped.
HOLY CRAP! Scott Bessent just PUMMELED Gavin Newsom in Davos
“He’s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros!”
“I think it’s very, very ironic that Newsom — who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ben — may be the only Californian who knows… pic.twitter.com/rdHEvghP2v
A Dangerous Year for Taiwan: Converging Pressures Raise the Risk of Chinese Invasion
January 24, 2026
Taiwan is a high-functioning democracy with its own legal system, freedoms, government, military, and currency. Maintaining the nation’s sovereignty depends on sustaining a strong military and coordinating closely with its strongest ally, the United States. Photo courtesy of the Office of the President of Taiwan.
Multiple political, strategic, and military factors are converging in a way that could make 2026 a uniquely dangerous year for Taiwan. Chinese leaders increasingly believe that asserting control over Taiwan is inevitable and may be achievable sooner than previously assumed.
Xi Jinping’s personal ambitions and political timeline add urgency to this assessment. He has pushed the Taiwan issue more aggressively than any predecessor and may view reunification as a defining legacy achievement. Xi has set 2027 as the target for the People’s Liberation Army to complete its modernization goals, ordering the military to be capable of a successful invasion by the PLA’s 100th anniversary.
While 2027 itself is unlikely to see major military action due to the Communist Party Congress and the regime’s emphasis on internal stability, the year immediately preceding it, 2026, is far more flexible.
Former INDOPACOM commander Admiral Philip Davidson warned in 2021 that the threat to Taiwan would become “manifest” within six years, a warning that came to be known as the Davidson Window. The term refers to a period of heightened risk, roughly between 2021 and 2027, during which China could acquire the military capability to attempt a takeover of Taiwan.
Davidson’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee underscored the pace of China’s military modernization and its narrowing gap with U.S. and allied forces in the region.
According to 2025 and 2026 U.S. Department of Defense reports, the People’s Liberation Army has expanded its missile inventory from about 1,200 in 2020 to roughly 3,500, while missile launchers grew from 800 to 1,500, supported by additional brigades and 300 new ICBM silos. Systems such as the DF-26 enable saturation strikes on U.S. bases in Guam.
China has also added a third aircraft carrier, expanded its amphibious fleet, and adapted commercial vessels for large-scale military transport across the Taiwan Strait.
Military analysts identify 2026 as a period of offensive overmatch for China, as Taiwan shifts toward an asymmetric defense model before fully integrating key U.S.-supplied systems. Deliveries of 100 Harpoon coastal defense sets and 66 F-16V fighters have begun, but training and integration will not be complete until 2027 or 2028, while HIMARS and the Haikun-class submarine remain in early fielding stages.
China’s 2025 defense budget reached $247 billion, compared with Taiwan’s $31 billion in 2026, even after a 16 percent increase. Although Taiwan approved an additional $40 billion defense package for 2026 to 2033, the PLA’s more than two million active personnel dwarf Taiwan’s 170,000, a gap Taiwan cannot close without external support.
Beijing’s calculations hinge on whether the United States would intervene. Muted responses to Chinese military exercises and a broader U.S. focus elsewhere reinforce the perception that Washington may be less willing or less able to defend Taiwan. Analysts argue 2026 may present a narrow window during U.S. midterm elections, when political disruption could delay decision-making.
Taiwan’s internal political weakness further feeds Beijing’s confidence. Since the 2024 elections, President Lai Ching-te lacks a legislative majority, and the opposition coalition has blocked key initiatives, including the special defense budget that has been stalled multiple times as of January 2026.
The opposition has also passed measures expanding legislative oversight and restructuring the Constitutional Court, effectively freezing its ability to rule on the constitutionality of new laws and creating a standoff between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
With Taiwan’s local elections scheduled for late 2026, Beijing is likely to intensify gray-zone pressure to influence public sentiment and test the government’s resolve. Declining support for the ruling party and its leader is viewed in Beijing as evidence that resistance to unification is weakening. If U.S. intervention is deemed unlikely and economic retaliation manageable, the cost-benefit analysis shifts sharply in favor of action.
Admiral Paparo is warning that China can use military “exercises” as cover for real war preparations. By calling large-scale movements an exercise, Beijing can move forces, test command and control, and position assets in ways that look routine. This makes it difficult for intelligence agencies to tell the difference between training and the early stages of an actual operation.
China has been increasingly treating the Taiwan Strait as its internal waters, and by 2026, the frequency of these drills is expected to reach a point where they can be converted into a functional blockade or quarantine with almost no warning, forcing the U.S. and its allies into a difficult decision to escalate to break the blockade or accept a new normal.
Taiwan faces a demographic tipping point in 2026 when it officially becomes a super-aged society, meaning over 20 percent of the population is 65 or older. The shrinking pool of young people is directly impacting defense, and despite returning to a one-year conscription period, the military struggles to find enough able-bodied recruits. As the population ages, the government faces massive pressure to pivot funds from the defense budget toward long-term care and pension subsidies.
Taiwan’s energy policy is perhaps its greatest vulnerability. To meet net zero goals, Taiwan has aggressively phased out coal and nuclear power, leaving it heavily dependent on Liquefied Natural Gas. Taiwan currently holds only about 11 to 14 days of LNG reserves, meaning in a conflict or blockade, the power grid could collapse in less than two weeks.
Taiwan’s massive semiconductor and AI industry requires immense amounts of electricity, creating fierce internal debates over whether to restart nuclear plants to ensure the silicon shield stays powered.
While 2026 is high-risk, analysts at ASPI and other institutes argue that China’s own economic headwinds, including slowing growth and high youth unemployment, might actually deter Xi from a high-stakes war that could trigger global sanctions, adding to economic pressures.
In conclusion, a convergence of external and internal factors suggests that 2026, during the U.S. midterm elections, could present China with an opportunity to act. At the same time, several constraints indicate the situation may remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. It is also possible that Xi Jinping will delay any move until President Trump leaves office. Russia chose the Obama and Biden administrations for its actions in Ukraine, and Hamas attacked Israel under Biden.
By contrast, Trump’s decision to order the military to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, combined with strikes on Venezuelan drug boats and on Iran, may serve as a deterrent. Beijing may therefore conclude that waiting to see the direction of the next U.S. administration is the safer course.
We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. We do this to improve browsing experience and to show (non-) personalized ads. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
