After meeting Netanyahu, Trump floats more strikes on Iran

After meeting Netanyahu, Trump floats more strikes on Iran.

US carries out first known land-based strike in Venezuela.

After a meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida, Trump indicated willingness to support a new round of Israeli strikes against Iran.

Since the so-called “12-Day War” between Iran and Israel this summer, tensions have continued to simmer. Both Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have said publicly that they expect to be at war again in the near future. Netanyahu has been particularly insistent that Iran’s entire nuclear program must be dismantled, even though there is not yet any evidence Iran has plans to weaponize their nuclear power. Israeli society was also deeply shaken by the reach and effectiveness of Iran’s conventional weapons, including its ballistic and hypersonic missiles. This is despite the fact that Israel wrought far more death and devastation on Iran during the war than Iran did on Israel.

Israel is estimated to have hundreds of secretly-developed nuclear warheads. While Iran is party the Treaty of Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Israel is not and does not even publicly admit to having a nuclear weapons program.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu views Iran’s capabilities as a threat to Israel’s ability to project power in the Middle East. Until now, the White House has been a restraining force on Netanyahu’s desires to continue making war with Iran, preferring instead to burnish Trump’s image as a peacemaker. However, today’s meeting produced little on its stated goal of advancing the Gaza ceasefire whose progress has been stalled for months.

US carries out first known land-based strike in Venezuela

President Trump said today that the US took out a “big facility” in Venezuela, a loading facility where the administration claims alleged narcotrafficking boats are loaded and launched. This is the first time the US has acknowledged striking a target on Venezuelan soil. It marks a major escalation in the US’s pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. President Trump has said that Maduro would be “smart” to step down.