← Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw
Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw
SITREP 28: Venezuela, Greenland, Minnesota & Iranian Uprising
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We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created. As a member of Congress, I get to have a lot of really interesting people in the office, experts on what they're talking about. This is the podcast for insights into the issues, China, bioterrorism, Medicare for all, in depth discussions, breaking it down into simple terms. We hold. We hold. We hold these truths. We hold these truths. With Dan Crenshaw, the eagle has landed. All right. Welcome back to the situation report. This is SITREP 28. Thanks for joining us as we cover the most interesting news from last week and army with the facts. So of course you've heard we took the gloves off in Venezuela. And Last Saturday morning, U.S. delta Force operators entered the Venezuelan capital, Caracas and arrested President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, and brought them to the United States to face federal justice. Not just them, but also federal law enforcement. They're the ones who actually read Maduro his Miranda rights. This was called Operation Absolute Resolve. It began around 2am local time. U.S. forces conducted strikes across northern Venezuela to suppress air defenses while an apprehension force secured Maduro's residence in Caracas. The raid was a result of months of intelligence preparation and at least one informant was reported to be inside the Venezuelan government. US Military officials said the raid maintained complete surprise and overwhelmed defensive fire when helicopters came under attack. Former intelligence officials described the operation as a very rare and public failure of Cuban intelligence tradecraft. Cuban intelligence had been providing Maduro's personal security for years. Their government admits that 32 Cuban officers protecting Maduro were killed during the operation, along with many other, many other of his personal security force. This strikes a pretty big blow to Havana's reputation as one of the most capable intelligence and security forces in the region. No U.S. service members were killed and no American equipment was lost during the operation. Maduro and Flores were flown to a US Ship in the Caribbean, transferred to Guantanamo Bay and then flown to New York City where they are being held in a metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn. The criminal case against Maduro dates back to 2020, with indictments alleging that he conspired with transnational criminal organizations including Sinaloa, the Zetas, Colombia's FARC and the Trend Gang, including with all of them the traffic cocaine into the United States. He faces federal charges of narco terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy. Following the capture of Maduro. President Donald Trump emphasized the United States does not intend to occupy Venezuela with large ground forces, but he made it clear the broader mission may not be brief. He said oversight of Venezuela could last much longer than months, adding that Washington intends to run key functions of the country, particularly its oil sector, until stability is restored. He said interim authorities in Caracas are giving us everything that we feel is necessary right now, outlining a three phase plan under which the United States would assume control of selling Venezuelan oil. Among other things. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told lawmakers the administration is close to finalizing a deal to acquire and market Venezuelan crude. While Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA confirmed it is negotiating oil sales with Washington to enforce that control, US Authorities are aggressively interdicting Venezuelan oil shipments. The shadow fleet or they're selling illegal oil globally. Just this week the United States seized a Russian flagged tank, a recently Russian flagged tanker. And they're always changing their flags after a weeks long pursuit by the Coast Guard. Now this is part of a broader effort to prevent oil revenues from flowing to criminal networks or hostile foreign intermediaries. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the United States will market both stored oil and future production to deny illicit actors access to energy revenue. So with Maduro now in American custody, Venezuela's former Vice president Delsey Rodriguez has assumed the role of interim president. And of course we'll see where it goes from here. I think it's a very, the administration is taking a very realistic and pragmatic view here. It's not like we like the interim president or any of the people in the cabinet. But the goal here is first stability and of course maintaining leverage over them. Hence the continuing enforcement of the oil embargo and the embargo and interdictions of these shadow fleet tankers. I'll say Venezuela is pretty personal to me. I've been there many times. My family lived there actually after I left for high school, after I graduated high school, after living in Bogota, Colombia. So I know the country pretty well. I've been there a whole number of times and I know what a vibrant and wonderful place it was with solid institutions and hardworking people. And it was a shame to watch it fall to pieces under Maduro. And any Venezuelan will tell you that back home in Houston we have one of the largest Venezuelan populations and I think everyone is cheering this. Moving on to Greenland. It is a, again a priority for the Trump administration as it was in his first term. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that President Trump's goal is to purchase Greenland from Denmark, downplaying suggestions of imminent military action. Acknowledging that the administration is of course using aggressive rhetoric to force negotiations, President Trump has framed Greenland as a national security priority. We argue that The US Control is needed to counter Russia and China in the Arctic and secure access to critical minerals. We view Greenland's location as strategically vital for missile defense, Arctic shipping lanes, and future resource development. Of course, this push rattles NATO allies, as a lot does. It seems easy to do that. Denmark warning that any US Attack on Greenland would effectively collapse the alliance. European leaders have urged Washington to pursue Arctic security collectively, even as Copenhagen offers expanded US Basing and mining access short of sovereignty transfer. Look, what this underscores is, I think, what you can expect from the president. He likes to use maximalist demands and public pressure to reshape the negotiations on core national security priorities. And history tells us that it often works. So I don't see him changing his tune anytime soon. What's going on in Iran? A lot of unrest. The people are, of course, again in the streets and hopefully threatening the power of the ayatollah. So there's been widespread protests across more than 100 Iranian cities. And they're intensifying as the regime cuts Internet access and warns demonstrators of harsh consequences, as they always do. While Iranian officials openly point to the US Operation in Venezuela as a warning about President Trump's willingness to act against hostile regimes, they're right to do that, actually, because we've already acted against the Iranians and destroyed their nuclear facilities. Not, not that long ago. Demonstrations have spread across Iran and economic pressure. Amid economic pressure and anger toward the ruling system, security forces have responded with arrests, Internet restrictions and force. The typical things they do. And you even see some videos of security forces even supporting and joining the protesters. International reporting indicates that the death toll continues to rise. Yesterday, Iranian authorities publicly executed a man accused of spying for Israel, hanging him in public after what state media described as a conviction tied to Mossad link intelligence activities. Sounds a lot like the. Sounds like a lot like the scene from Homeland. The execution was widely seen as an effort to intimidate protesters and reinforce the regime's claim that unrest is driven by foreign enemies. Of course we know that's not true, and everyone who lives there knows that's not true. Iranian leaders have blamed the unrest on foreign interference. They accused the United States and Israel of attempting to destabilize the country and warn protesters that continued demonstrations threaten national security. Of course this is a nonsense. We have no ability to get inside the minds of regular Iranians who just want their lives to be better and not be run by the Agatola. Now, again, Iranian officials, state media, they keep drawing parallels to Venezuela. According to cnn, the US Capture of Maduro has rattled assumptions in Tehran about American restraint and raises concerns that Washington may be prepared to act decisively elsewhere. Again, they're not wrong to think that. And President Trump actually did weigh in on the unrest, he said, warning that if Iranian authorities violently kill peaceful protesters, the United States of America will come to the rescue. He added, the US Is locked and loaded, so they're right to be careful. I would tell the ayatollah that you should be worried. And the Monroe Doctrine is back in full swing. Moving across to the Pacific, China is escalating its disputes with Japan in the East China Sea. It's intensifying this territorial dispute with Japan and increasing pressure around the Senkaku Islands islands. This is known in China as the Diaoyu Islands. And it raises the risk, of course of a broader regional confrontation. It stepped up. China has stepped up patrols and coercive activity activity near Japanese territory, including frequent incursions by Coast Guard maritime militia vessels etc into waters that are administered by Japan. Tokyo says the moves are part of a sustained campaign to challenge Japanese control and normalize a constant Chinese presence. The dispute matters geopolitically because the islands sit astride key sea lanes and fall under the U S Japan Security treaty, meaning any armed clash could, could in fact draw in the United States. Japan has responded by strengthening its southwest defenses and deepening coordination with Washington and regional partners. I would also note they've, they've been increasing their defense expenditures over the last few years as well. Now more broadly, Beijing's escalation does fit this wider pattern of Chinese pressure against U. S Allies from the, from the Philippines to Taiwan. It's always testing deterrence. It's trying to strain regional stability and wants to signal that China under Xi Jinping is prepared to challenge this post war security order in Asia. Meaning they want to be in charge moving back home here we had a very unfortunate ice. ICE agent shooting in Minneapolis. An ICE agent was fatal who fatally shot a woman after. After authorities saw her attempt to use her vehicle to run over federal officers during an ICE operation that involved fraud investigations. So there's been a lot of videos of this that have gone viral. Everyone can see it. It shows two ICE agents approaching a woman in her car. They're blocking the road that they need to get through. The officers command the woman to exit her car. The video appears to show her then turning her wheels toward a third officer, shifting into drive and driving ahead. While turning toward the third officer, he drew his firearm, discharged three shots, resulted in the vehicle driving into parked cars and the female driver deceased. So evidence will of course continue to be analyzed. The videos we can see seem pretty compelling in favor of the officer's case for self defense. It's really unfortunate because this all could have been avoided by simply just obey lawful orders from law enforcement. And I think what's unfortunate is that, well, the media bias over the years I think has gotten to some people. You know, there's always a spin about this and there hasn't been consequences for, for people who have rioted and done terrible things to police. And so people think that it's just, it's a consequence, less sort of action. But of course it's not. And it's just unfortunate how we're still covering it. CNN's coverage, for example, makes little mention of the woman's attempts to actually evade police or use her vehicle as a weapon, but just profiles her personal life story promulgates an anti Trump, anti ICE narrative. No mention of Democrats calling ICE agents the Gestapo for months of course, which, yeah, you know what, that could have an effect on some people. You can't just your words actually matter sometimes and they can affect how people think about it. Of course. Look, and Scott Jennings pointed this out on cnn. When you call the people you disagree with bad evil ghouls, it causes this contempt that fuels this divisiveness and makes people do things that unfortunately in this case got her killed. Nobody wants to see this happen, Republicans or Democrats, everybody's devastated by that kind of tragedy. And maybe with a less divisive national conversation and more responsible national conversations, these kind of things could be avoided. Other some other quick developing headlines, there's been a food pyramid shakeup at hhs. The administration is revamping the federal dietary guidelines under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Aiming to move Americans away from ultra processed foods and towards simpler whole food nutrition. Turning the pyramid we grew up with on its head. So that's a good thing. I think we've all known that the original food pyramid made no sense. And moving on, President Trump has also announced that his policy he wants people to live in homes that aren't necessarily owned by big corporations. He said the US should bar major institutions, institutional investors including private equity firms and huge real estate trusts from purchase saying single family housing stock urged Congress to codify the proposal into law. And so we'll see where that goes. There was another unfortunate shooting in Salt Lake City. Two people were killed, at least six others wounded Wednesday evening in a shooting outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City. Where mourners had gathered for a funeral. So keep the victims and their families in Salt Lake City in your prayers, please. Now, if you read nothing else, this is an interesting one. Check out this article called Crude Nation How Oil Riches Ruined Venezuela by Raul Gallegos spotlights how the nation with the world's largest oil reserves failed due to a dysfunctional leftist government and how state controls led to its economic decline and ultimate collapse. That's all. Thanks for watching.