US GETS IT SHIPS TOGETHER: As the world wonders whether the U.S. is on the verge of striking Venezuela, the arrival in the Caribbean of the world’s newest, largest aircraft carrier and its missile-firing escort ships is ratcheting up the pressure on Nicolas Maduro, who the Trump administration has declared is not the legitimate leader of the country.
“With more than 4,000 Sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft aboard, Gerald R. Ford provides combatant commanders and America’s civilian leaders increased capacity to project power through sustained operations at sea,” U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command said in a press release, noting the destroyers USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan were accompanying the carrier, along with an “air and missile defense command ship,” the USS Winston S. Churchill.
“There hasn’t been this much combat firepower afloat in the region going back to the 1960s and the Cuban missile crisis,” former U.S. Southern Commander retired Adm. James Stavridis said on CNN. “Once the carrier and her escorts are on station, there’s going to be probably ten or maybe a few more major surface combatants in the region. Reportedly, there’s a nuclear submarine. There’s a squadron of Joint Strike Fighters, fifth-generation fighters, stationed in Puerto Rico. You know, this is kind of 20,000 sailors, marines on board those amphibious readiness ships.”
FORD AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUP REACHES CARIBBEAN, INCREASING ALREADY OVERWHELMING US FORCE
IS TRUMP BLUFFING? President Donald Trump has made a point of being cagey about whether he plans to move from striking suspected drug boats in the Caribbean to what he called “land” attacks. One day, he seems to be threatening military action, the next, he’s waffling.
“These actions certainly do not sound like mere drug enforcement against organized criminals. Not even close. These are the actions you take before you consider launching a major military operation against another country, and that authority, the Constitution is clear, must come from Congress,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the floor of the Senate last week. “But it also sounds like nobody really knows what the plan is, because like so many other things with Donald Trump, he keeps changing his mind. Who knows what he will do tomorrow? To date, we have heard no clear goals, no clear timeline, no clear explanation for what Donald Trump’s objective is in Venezuela. This is unacceptable and it’s dangerous.”
“My view is this is gunboat diplomacy. Put pressure on Nicolas Maduro, perhaps do some strikes ashore to increase that pressure, try and convince him to give up power,” said Stavridis. “If they do decide to pursue the course of strikes on land, in my view, they need to move it in a way where you really tie it to the counter-narcotics, act of war theory.”
“That means you’re going to go after counter-narcotics sites in Venezuela. So, think transit points where drugs move on land, maybe where the boats are coming out of, maybe the maintenance areas for those boats, maybe some command and control nodes, particular cell towers, pretty limited target set. Probably do that with Tomahawk missiles. Maybe some drones,” Stavridis said. “I think then you hit pause. You go to Maduro and say, ‘How do you like it so far? Because we can do a lot more than this.’ And you hope he folds his tents and goes away.”
DRUG BOAT STRIKES ARE TIED TO VENEZUELA. THAT’S NOT WHERE THE FENTANYL COMES FROM
VENEZUELA ON HIGH ALERT: In an address on Venezuelan national television, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced that Maduro has placed the “entire country’s military arsenal on full operational readiness,” activating almost 200,000 troops.
“The aggression will be responded to with national unity,” López said in a statement. “We are ready here, we don’t want war.” The preparations reportedly include the “massive deployment of ground, aerial, naval, riverine and missile forces” with the participation of all security forces and militia.
The Pentagon has reportedly developed a range of options for military action in Venezuela, including — according to the New York Times — “direct attacks on military units that protect President Nicolás Maduro and moves to seize control of the country’s oil fields.”
UK STOPS SHARING SOME INTEL WITH US OVER DRUG VESSEL STRIKES
Good Wednesday 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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NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will be on Thanksgiving break beginning the week of Monday, Nov. 17, and continuing through the end of the month. We’ll be back at the beginning of December.
HAPPENING TODAY: SO LONG SHUTDOWN: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has called lawmakers back to Washington with the hopes of voting today on the Senate bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
The Senate voted Monday on a compromise continuing resolution that passed 60-40 after eight Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans. The measure included provisions to protect the jobs of federal workers and ensure they receive back pay, along with yearlong funding for the operation of Congress, agriculture, military construction, and veterans affairs. It does not include extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which was the Democrats’ key demand.
Early this morning, the House Rules Committee voted 8-4 along party lines to advance the measure, teeing up the legislation for a full floor vote later today.
But one provision could be a problem. It would allow certain senators to sue the federal government for $500,000 or more if their phone records were sought or obtained as part of an investigation into President Trump, and that has rankled Democrats and even some Republicans.
“If it were to pass, this astounding provision would give eight Republican Senators a personal payday of at least one million dollars each paid for directly by U.S. taxpayers,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). “These Senators want to get paid a pirate’s treasure simply for having their call records turned over by their phone company in response to a lawful subpoena, subject to a lawful non-disclosure order signed by a federal judge, as part of a lawful criminal investigation. To be clear, there was no ‘phone tap’ or eavesdropping on the content of their conversations.”
He called the amendment “most blatantly corrupt provisions for political self-dealing and the plunder of public resources ever proposed in Congress.”
“It is beside my comprehension” that the provision was included, said Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of four Republicans, including Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK), Austin Scott (R-GA), and Morgan Griffith (R-VA) who have voiced objections to the amendment.
“We need to fund the government, and we need to get this passed…but that provision needs to get fixed, and we need to find a way as a body to get it fixed as soon as possible,” Roy said, adding the amendment is why “people have a low opinion of this town.”
REPUBLICANS SIGNAL UNHAPPINESS WITH PHONE RECORD PROVISION IN GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL
LAVROV’S ALL RIGHT: It would appear that rumors out of Moscow last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longtime trusted foreign minister Sergey Lavrov had fallen out of favor may have been off base. “There is no truth to these reports whatsoever,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday. “Lavrov continues to serve as foreign minister, of course.”
Sure enough, yesterday, the 75-year-old Lavrov took reporters’ questions at the foreign ministry, repeating Russia’s denial that it has been secretly engaged in any underground nuclear testing. “There must have been a misunderstanding,” he said. “We have so far not received clarifications from our U.S. counterparts as to what exactly President Donald Trump meant to convey in his remarks.”
“Was it nuclear tests, delivery vehicle tests, or subcritical tests which do not involve a nuclear reaction and are permitted under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty?” Lavrov said.
“President Putin has issued a directive not to conduct nuclear tests and not even to make preparations for them,” he added. “Our principled position was laid out by President Putin in 2023, when, taking a question during one of his speeches, he said that if a nuclear power were to conduct nuclear weapons tests (not delivery system tests, not subcritical tests), then Russia will respond in kind.”
“We are ready to discuss the suspicions raised by our U.S. counterparts, whereby we have allegedly holed up deep underground and are secretly doing something there. We are also ready to discuss with our U.S. counterparts resuming preparatory work for the summit between the leaders of Russia and the United States, which they themselves proposed,” Lavrov added. “Budapest would, of course, be our preferred location. All the more so as, during his meeting with Viktor Orban, Donald Trump confirmed that Budapest was a preferable venue for Washington as well.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Ford aircraft carrier strike group reaches Caribbean, increasing already overwhelming US force
Washington Examiner: UK stops sharing some intel with US over drug vessel strikes
Washington Examiner: US kills six in strikes on two reported drug boats over weekend
Washington Examiner: Drug boat strikes are tied to Venezuela. That’s not where the fentanyl comes from
Washington Examiner: Here are all the details of the US strikes targeting alleged drug vessels
Washington Examiner: Trump’s former defense chief Esper: Military not the ‘best tool’ to stop drug interdictions
Washington Examiner: Hegseth announces weapons acquisitions overhaul ‘to operate on a wartime footing’
Washington Examiner: Hegseth acquisition reform makes room for nontraditional defense contractors
Washington Examiner: A dynamite debate: What if deterrence fails to prevent a future Armageddon?
Washington Examiner: DOJ tells Supreme Court to give Trump ‘extraordinary deference’ to deploy troops to Chicago
Washington Examiner: Cold and disease threaten postceasefire Gaza as winter approaches
Washington Examiner: Unexploded ordnance will long threaten Gazans despite tenuous ceasefire
Washington Examiner: Houthis signal they’ve stopped attacking Israel, but will resume if Gaza ceasefire falls through
Washington Examiner: Mexican authorities thwart alleged Iranian assassination attempt on Israeli ambassador
Washington Examiner: Marine veteran Vance joins Trump for Arlington ceremony honoring fallen troops
Washington Examiner: Border Patrol agents in Chicago heading to Charlotte this week
Washington Examiner: Texas to begin surveilling border for evidence of tunneling on state land
Washington Examiner: Catholic Church retaliates against US Army for canceling support for chapels
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump holds a positive meeting with Syria’s Ahmed al Sharaa, but key questions remain
Bloomberg: Navy Considers Base for 10,000 Near Gaza Without US Troops
New York Times: Xi’s Military Purges Show Unease About China’s Nuclear Forces
AP: Japan and China exchange barbs after PM Takaichi’s remarks over Taiwan
CNN: Sexism at Hegseth’s Pentagon contributed to ousting of female elite commander, military insiders allege
New York Times: Hegseth Is Purging Military Leaders With Little Explanation
CNN: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break
CNN: Here’s what the US military is using to strike alleged drug boats
Air & Space Forces Magazine: The Pentagon Wants to Buy Weapons Faster. What Will It Cost?
Breaking Defense: Zelenskyy: ‘We Want to Order 25 Patriot’ Air Defense Systems from US
AP: Europe’s private drone industry eyes opportunity as NATO strengthens defense
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Fighter Roadmap Projects Slow Growth for F-35 Fleet
The War Zone: China’s Stealthy GJ-11 ‘Mysterious Dragon’ Soars Out of the Shadows
Defense One: Longest Shutdown in History Creating a Readiness Hole of Unknown Proportions
Breaking Defense: Funding for SDA’s Next Missile Tracking Contracts Diverted to Troop Payments: Sources
Defense News: Military Experts Warn Security Hole in Most AI Chatbots Can Sow Chaos
USA Today: Transgender Troops Who Served 15 to 18 Years Sue Air Force over Revoked Pensions
New York Times: The Volunteer Buglers Giving 24-Note Salutes
THE CALENDAR:
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 12
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “The Invisible Shield: Wireless Spectrum and U.S. National Security,” Brooke Donilon, chief of staff of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; and Arpan Sura, senior counsel to FCC Chairman Carr, participate in a discussion: “Wireless Leadership and National Security https://www.csis.org/events/invisible-shield-wireless-spectrum-and-us-national-security
11 a.m. — Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Institute of Global Politics livestreamed event: “The Geopolitical Chessboard: Implications of the Current Global Ferment,” with former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Mike Pompeo https://www.eventbrite.com/e/livestream-the-geopolitical-chessboard
11 a.m. — Middle East Institute and PoliTact virtual discussion: “Afghanistan-Pakistan Conflict: What Does it Mean for Regional Stability and US Strategic Interests?,” with former Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Sedney; Joshua White, non-resident fellow, Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program; Craig Carp, managing director at Karpology Javid Ahmad, MEI associate fellow; and Marvin Weinbaum, MEI senior fellow https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
6 p.m. 1224 30th St. NW — Washington Diplomat Ambassador Insider Series event: “The future of U.S. – Philippines relations, the challenges in the South China Sea, the Philippines strategic role in Asia, and the economic opportunities shaping the region” with Philippines https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ambassador-insider-series
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 13
9 a.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and Aerospace Corporation discussion: “Should the Wolf Amendment Be Repealed?,” focusing on the U.S.-China relationship, with Dean Cheng, nonresident senior fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies; Dan Hart, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council; and Brian Weeden, director of civil and commercial policy at the Aerospace Corporation’s https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/live-debate-should-the-wolf-amendment-be-repealed?
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies and National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement virtual discussion: “Meeting the U.S. Defense Imperative: Challenges and Opportunities in the Development of the Defense Industrial Base Workforce,” with Malinda Woods, chair, NIICA Board of Directors, former senior adviser to the Defense Secretary on Supply Chain Resilience and former director, Defense Department’s Title III Defense Production Act; Clay Nagel, senior director of NIICA’s National Center for Skill Based Learning; Jerry McGinn, director, CSIS Center for the Industrial Base and senior fellow, CSIS Defense and Security Department; Sujai Shivakumar, CSIS director and senior fellow of Renewing American Innovation; and Matt Brogoshian, executive director, American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative https://www.csis.org/events/meeting-us-defense-imperative-challenges
1 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion of a new report, “Minsk in Moscow’s Grip: How Russia Subjugated Belarus Without Annexation,” with author Hanna Liubakova, nonresident fellow, Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center; Giselle Bosse, professor at Maastricht University; Brian Whitmore, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center; and Agnia Grigas, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center; https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/report-launch-how-russia-subjugated-belarus
4:30 p.m. 1521 16th St. NW — Institute of World Politics book discussion: At Sea Against the Soviet Fleet: The Evolution of U.S. Navy Operational Intelligence in the Cold War, with author retired Navy Capt. Bryan Leese https://www.iwp.edu/at-sea-against-the-soviet-fleet
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 Aggression” with retired Rear 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
