War Monitor

President Donald J. Trump has chosen to endorse Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, despite Gonzales’s support for gun control and his past vote as the only Texas Republican to oppose the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023, opting against backing Second Amendment activist and media personality Brandon Herrera.

Netanyahu and Trump secretly coordinated plans for a possible strike on Iran beginning in February 2025, while publicly emphasizing diplomacy as part of a deliberate effort to mislead Tehran. Officials said preparations continued under the assumption that “if talks fail, we are ready to act,” adding that reports of tensions between the U.S. and Israel were intentional. “It was good that this was the general perception,” one official said.

Jim O'Neill, U.S. HHS Deputy Secretary: "Men are men. Men can never become women. Women are women. Women can never become men." "Children are innocent and they need our protection."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance—alongside heroin and bath salts—to a Schedule III controlled substance, placing it in the same category as many prescription drugs such as ketamine. The move could potentially pave the way for future federal decriminalization or legalization by Congress and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

About two dozen unidentified, large, military-style drones flew in formation over Faßberg Air Base in northern Germany on December 16. The base hosts the main technical and logistical training center for helicopters used by both the German Air Force and the Army. Prior to Tuesday night’s incident, a similar swarm of roughly two dozen drones—believed to be the same ones—was seen circling the Celler-Immelmann Barracks for several hours last Friday. In both cases, no attempts were made to down the drones, as they were deemed not to pose an immediate threat and, according to the Bundeswehr, there was “nothing to spy on.”

Secretary Kennedy announced six decisive measures aimed at protecting children from chemical and surgical interventions related to gender transition. “So-called ‘gender-affirming care’ has caused lasting physical and psychological harm to vulnerable young people,” Kennedy said. “We are ending junk science driven by ideology rather than the well-being of children.”

Local media report that the private jet—a Cessna Citation II—that crashed earlier this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina was carrying NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, along with his wife and children. View quoted note →

Footage released today by Ukraine’s General Staff shows a series of drone strikes conducted on December 14 against the Russian Air Force’s 568th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment near Raivka in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. The operation was carried out by Ukraine’s 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, known as the “Black Forest” Brigade, and resulted in the destruction of two fully loaded launchers from an S-400 surface-to-air missile battery.

Reports now indicate that the private jet that crashed this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina was a 1981 Cessna Citation II, tail number N257BW, owned by NASCAR driver Greg Biffle.

The Trump administration has begun sounding out U.S.-based oil companies—including Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, and Weatherford—about whether they would consider resuming operations in Venezuela if President Nicolás Maduro were removed from power. So far, the response has been a firm “no,” according to three people familiar with the discussions cited by POLITICO.