OPERATION SOUTHERN SPEAR: “President Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering,” Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X last night, announcing “Operation Southern Spear,” a military mission he said “defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.”
“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it,” Hegseth said. That was it. A four-line social media post. No briefings, no backgrounders, no embedded journalists, and no indication if American is going to war without Congressional authorization, or just flexing its military muscle as it continues to pick off small wooden boats with drone-launched Hellfire missiles that so far in 20 attacks have killed 80 suspected “narco-terrorists.”
CBS News, and later CNN, reported yesterday that President Donald Trump was provided with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, “including strikes on land,” CBS said, citing multiple sources familiar with the White House meetings, adding “No final decision has been made.”
“My advice to foreign terrorist organizations is do not get in a boat,” Hegseth said at a defense summit Wednesday in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “If you’re trafficking drugs to poison the American people, and we know you’re from a designated terrorist organization, you’re a foreign terrorist or trafficker — we will find you and we will kill you.”
Stay tuned.
HEGSETH ANNOUNCES OPERATION SOUTHERN SPEAR TO REMOVE ‘NARCOTERRORISTS FROM OUR HEMISPHERE’
U.S. GETTING ITS ASSETS IN GEAR: The latest boat strike — which as of this morning has not been officially announced with an accompanying video as is the custom — comes as the USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s newest, biggest, most advanced aircraft carrier has moved closer to Venezuela in the Caribbean and some U.S. warships sailed as close as 30 miles off the coast, according to trackers on social media.
The deployment of the massive supercarrier, along with its three Tomahawk cruise missile-firing escort destroyers, brings the U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean to eight warships, 15,000 troops, and dozens of warplanes — a level “unseen since the Cold War,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes.
“These assets are ill-suited for counter-narcotics operations against suspected drug smuggling boats but well suited to launch air and missile strikes against Venezuela,” write CSIS analysts Mark Cancian and Chris Park. “The aircraft carrier’s arrival suggests a shift from a campaign against drug smugglers to one that includes undermining the [Nicolas] Maduro regime.”
OPINION: AIRCRAFT CARRIER DEPLOYMENT ENABLES A BAD MADURO DECAPITATION OPTION
MADURO CRIES UNCLE: CNN caught up with President Maduro at a rally yesterday and asked him if he had a message for the people of the United States. “To unite for the peace of the continent. No more endless wars, no more unjust wars. No more Libya, no more Afghanistan,” he said according to a translation aired on CNN last night. “Do you have a message for President Trump?”
“My message is yes, peace. Yes, peace,” he replied in Spanish. Social media was buzzing last night with unconfirmed and apparently inaccurate reports that Maduro’s private plane was tracked flying toward Cuba.
“To those who wonder about what’s going on in Venezuela, you should understand President Trump is deadly serious about stopping the narcoterrorist state of Venezuela from continuing to poison Americans with illegal drugs. President Trump also believes Maduro is an illegitimate leader whose days are numbered,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted on X last night, noting that there is a precedent for the U.S. intervening militarily to remove a Western hemisphere leader who nullified democratic elections and was wanted in the U.S. on criminal charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
“I do not consider Maduro a legitimate leader but rather, a drug trafficker who has been indicted in U.S. courts,” Graham said, comparing a possible mission to depose him to “Operation Just Cause,” the 1989 invasion of Panama ordered by President George H.W. Bush to capture and bring Gen. Manuel Noriega to justice.
“Bush 41 took Panamanian leader Noriega down under similar circumstances,” Graham said. “There is a drug caliphate in our backyard that includes Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba. I am very glad President Trump is dedicated to ending this reign of terror. The sooner Maduro leaves, the better for the people of Venezuela and the United States.”
TRUMP SAYS HIS WAR WITH VENEZUELA IS TARGETING DRUG CARTELS, BUT DEMOCRACY COULD BE THE VICTOR
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.
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SIGN OF TIMES: For 76 years, a small, unpretentious brass sign adorned a pillar at the River Entrance to the Pentagon. The iconic signage said simply, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Yesterday, despite the fact that Congress has not approved an official name change, Pete Hegseth rolled up his shirt sleeves and applied a little elbow grease to help mount a replacement sign which reads DEPARTMENT OF WAR.
“We love everything that the Department of Defense represented,” Hegseth said. “But this is a new era of the Department of War that is focused on winning wars.”
Since President Trump authorized War as a “secondary title” and declared the Department of Defense too wimpy, too woke, Hegseth has used the “find and replace” function to change “defense” to “war” in every possible title and department.
“We wanted to replace [the old signs] because we want everybody who comes through this door to know that we are deadly serious about the name change of this organization,” Hegseth said. “And now everybody that enters this building, whether it’s generals or civilians or foreign leaders, is going to see: this is not just on paper. This is not just a title. This is exactly who we are.”
PETE HEGSETH VOWS TO BUILD AN ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’
ZELENSKY: RUSSIA LOST 25,000 TROOPS LAST MONTH: In an interview with Bloomberg Television Wednesday night in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said while much of the besieged city of Pokrovsk is surrounded on three sides by Russian forces, the city has yet to fall.
Once home to 60,000 people, Pokrovsk is now a shell of its former self, a landscape of bombed-out buildings with only about 1,000 residents left. Asked by Bloomberg’s Oliver Crook if it might be time for a tactical retreat, Zelensky said he would defer to his commanders. “This is really, this is a decision of generals, and of course I will support our soldiers — especially commanders — who are there [on] how they can control the situation.”
“Nobody is pushing them to die for the sake of ruins,” Zelensky said. “The most important for us is our soldiers.”
At the same time, Zelensky said Russia has suffered horrific casualties in its yearlong effort to capture the now mostly-deserted city. “They lost in October more than 25,000 people, it’s only I mean this is 25,000 that we what we control from from drones,” Zelensky claimed, citing video confirmation from drone attacks. “There are video effects of this so I don’t know that the total number.”
Zelensky said his most urgent need now is for more artillery for the front lines, more long-range weapons to strike deep into Russia (though he said, not necessarily Tomahawk cruise missiles), and more air defenses, something underscored by the latest Russian air assault on Kyiv which hit 11 apartment buildings overnight and killed at least five people and injured at least 25 others.
“Once again, Russia has launched a heinous attack against Ukraine, our people, and ordinary residential buildings,” Zelensky posted on X. “A wicked attack – as of now, we know of dozens of wounded, including children and a pregnant woman.”
The attack was the largest in recent weeks, with about 430 drones and 18 missiles launched by Russia, according to Zelensky. “This was a deliberately calculated attack aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure. In Kyiv alone, dozens of apartment buildings have been damaged. The Azerbaijani Embassy was hit by debris from an Iskander missile,” he said. “Our ‘Patriots’ worked, as well as some other systems, and there were 14 Russian missiles neutralized this night. In particular, two aeroballistic and six ballistic Russian missiles were shot down.”
Ukraine launched a counterattack, deploying its homegrown Neptune cruise missiles against Russian oil facilities. “This is our entirely justified response to the ongoing Russian terror. Ukrainian missiles are actually delivering more tangible and precise results every month.”
OVERSEA ANTIFA LABELED TERRORISTS: The State Department has dubbed four European left-wing groups as “violent antifa groups,” and plans to categorize them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, a designation that allows the U.S. to target any financial support the networks may have in the U.S.
The announcement named German-based antifa Ost, along with three other groups in Italy and Greece, as “self-described anti-fascism organizations,” which “ascribe to revolutionary anarchist or Marxist ideologies, including anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity, using these to incite and justify violent assaults domestically and overseas.”
“Building on @POTUS’s historic commitment to uproot Antifa’s campaign of political violence, the Department of State is designating four Antifa groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X. “The United States will continue using all available tools to protect our nation from these anti-American, anti-capitalist, and anti-Christian terrorist groups.”
STATE DEPARTMENT DESIGNATES ANTIFA GROUPS IN EUROPE AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Hegseth announces Operation Southern Spear to remove ‘narcoterrorists from our hemisphere’
Washington Examiner: Trump only wins if Maduro is ousted, former Venezuela adviser Abrams says
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Aircraft carrier deployment enables a bad Maduro decapitation option
Washington Examiner: Pete Hegseth vows to build an ‘Arsenal of Freedom’
Washington Examiner: Pakistan blames India and Afghanistan for terrorist attacks that rocked country as tensions escalate
Washington Examiner: State Department designates antifa groups in Europe as foreign terrorist organizations
Washington Examiner: Japan refuses to retract Taiwan comments despite Beijing rage and beheading threat
Washington Examiner: Ukraine announces audit of public companies to fight corruption
Washington Examiner: Johnson and Thune at crossroads over ‘Arctic Frost’ surprise in shutdown bill
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Weak Starmer waltzes into a winter of discontent
New York Times: Memo Blessing Boat Strikes Is Said to Rely on Trump’s Claims About Cartels
Bloomberg: Zelenskiy Says Ukraine’s Survival Rests on Funds From Allies
The War Zone: Russia Creates New Military Branch Dedicated to Drone Warfare
Wall Street Journal: Putin Is Turning Eighth-Grade Classrooms Into Army Training Grounds
Washington Post: The fate of dozens of trapped Hamas fighters is hindering Trump’s Gaza plan
New York Times: US Officials Raise Concerns About Saudi Arabia’s Bid for F-35 Jets
Air & Space Forces Magazine: NATO Cancels Plan to Buy E-7 Wedgetails
Defense News: Joby, L3Harris Fly Autonomous Electric Aircraft, Eye Defense Market
Breaking Defense: Anduril, EDGE Ink Joint Venture for Drone Sales
Breaking Defense: France Announces Almost $5B in New Military Space Funding
Wall Street Journal: Blue Origin Launches Its First NASA Mission, Lands Rocket Booster
Defense One: Feds Should Get at Least Most Backpay by Nov. 19, Administration Says
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Issues Guidance on Shutdown Backpay, Telework for Returning Workers
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force’s New Fighter Math Doesn’t Add Up for Critics
Air & Space Forces Magazine: F-15E Aircrews Who Shot Iranian Drones Honored With Mackay Trophy
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Using AI to Plan Storage for Munitions
Stars and Stripes: Navy veterans push for more health coverage, studies on toxins in a submarine’s sealed environment
Washington Post: Transgender veterans sue Trump administration over retirement benefits
Washington Post: John Bolton: This is the right way to overthrow Maduro
Washington Post: Opinion: The U.S. can help Ukraine beat Russia without escalating the war
THE CALENDAR:
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 14
8:45 a.m. 2500 Calvert St. NW — American Bar Association discussion: “The AI Arms Race and National Security Law” https://events.americanbar.org/event
MONDAY | NOVEMBER 17
1 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies in-person and virtual discussion: “Power Under Pressure: The Fight to Protect Taiwan’s Energy Lifelines from Beijing’s AggressionRear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director, FDD Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; Craig Singleton, senior director, FDD China Program, and moderated by Politico China Correspondent Phelim Kine https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/11/17/power-under-pressure
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 18
10:30 a.m. — U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission releases its 2025 annual report to Congress, “National security implications of the economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China” https://www.uscc.gov/
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 19
12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army webinar: “The history and impact of the Junior ROTC program,” with Arthur Coumbe, author of Soldiers in the Schoolhouse: A Military History of the Junior ROTC https://www.ausa.org/events/noon-report/soldiers-in-the-schoolhouse
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 20
6 p.m. 1717 K St. NW — America-Eurasia Center in-person event: “Preventing Nuclear War and Determining a New Strategy for Peace,” with Daryl Kimball, executive director, Arms Control Association https://www.eventbrite.com/e/preventing-nuclear-war
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 21
1 p.m. — Arms Control Association virtual briefing: “Renewed U.S. Nuclear Explosive Testing? Moving From Confounding Nuclear Testing Threats to a Constructive Test Ban Policy,” with Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), Corey Hinderstein, vice president for studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; and Daryl Kimball, executive director, Arms Control Association https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
