• U.S. military presence in Caribbean grows: As Donald Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro in media statements, he’s followed it up with increased military presence in the region. Eleven U.S. warships, led by the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, are steaming into the Caribbean. Trump has also deployed a Marine Expeditionary Unit capable of conducting a land assault. “Drugs kill more Americans than we’ve ever lost in wars,” Navy Secretary John Phelan explained. “So I think at the end of the day, the president has correctly identified this as an attack on the country.” This military buildup in the Caribbean is part of Trump’s Operation Southern Spear, whose aim is to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. Furthermore, Trump is reestablishing the Monroe Doctrine due to the increasing menace from China in the region.

• Nashville-hating Democrat on the ballot in TN special election: Tennessee is holding a special election today to replace former Congressman Mark Green, who resigned in July. Republican Matt Van Epps, a decorated veteran and helicopter pilot who has been endorsed by President Trump and Gov. Bill Lee, might be expected to cruise to victory over a Democrat described as “our very own AOC of TN” in a district where Trump won 60% of the vote. However, Republican turnout in elections without Trump on the ballot has been very weak in recent years, and Democrats have poured over $1 million into Democrat Aftyn Behn’s campaign. Trump weighed in on Behn, calling her “a woman who hates Christianity,” using on-tape comments to pin her as anti-2A, pro-trans, and a hater of country music. Polls will close at 7 p.m. Central Time.

• Good news: National Guardsman awake after DC Islamic attack: Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, who was shot by an Islamist ahead of Thanksgiving, has clung to life and now can respond to nurses with a thumbs up and by wiggling his toes. U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who was also a target of the Muslim attack, died of her wounds on Thanksgiving Day. In another era, an Afghan attacker who shouted “Allahu Akbar” before shooting National Guard members in our nation’s capital would be seen for what it is — Islamic terrorism. However, the Leftmedia struggles to use the words “terror,” “Muslim,” or “Islam” these days, or even to quote the attacker’s battle cry. Despite the horror, Staff Sgt. Wolfe’s continuing recovery is cause for thanksgiving and celebration by all Americans.

• Noem calls for travel ban: Following last week’s deadly attack in DC, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday called for a “full travel ban” to the U.S. from dozens of countries. Noem argued that these nations have “been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.” She added in a post on X, “Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” Noem has already acted to pause asylum claims from 19 countries in the wake of the attack. She also accused the Biden administration of “completely” abandoning the vetting process when it allowed people into the country.

• Trump MRI comes back clean: The media and politicians who refused to admit they had even the slightest worries about non compos mentis Joe Biden’s mental state are happy to invent health woes out of whole cloth for Donald Trump. Trump revealed that he underwent an MRI scan in October, and lefties jumped on it as their newest angle of attack. When Trump outlined the tremendous ongoing fraud in Minnesota and called Gov. Tim Walz “seriously retarded,” adding that he was doing nothing about it, Walz responded simply, “Release the MRI results.” Well, yesterday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did just that, going over the results with the press pool and handing out physical copies. According to the MRI, Trump’s cardiovascular imaging was “perfectly normal” and shows “excellent health.” The president is 79, so health checks are essential, but so far, there are no signs of concern.

• Mamdani’s radical transition team: New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has been putting together his transition team, and predictably, it is filled with radical leftists who share his own Marxist ideology. For example, Mamdani named Alex Vitale, an anti-cop Brooklyn College sociology professor, to staff his Committee on Community Safety. Vitale even published a book titled The End of Policing in which he decried the proven “broken windows” policing strategy as reinforcing racism and inequality. The book also contains a chapter titled “The Police Are Not Here to Protect You.” Vitale is one of a basket of leftist radicals in Mamdani’s team, which also includes one “Abby” Stein, a male rabbi who identifies as a “trans-woman” who is on his Health Committee.

• Rampant Minnesota Somali fraud aided by Tim Walz: Fourteen Medicare-funded programs in Minnesota were paused on October 31 due to fears of fraud. The New York Times reports that 59 people have already been convicted, and in three investigated cases so far, over $1 billion in state and federal taxpayer dollars have been stolen. The fraud may have been ignored due to fears of causing “political backlash among the Somali community,” says Kayseh Magan, a Somali-American fraud investigator. Ryan Pacyga, a lawyer defending an accused fraudster, adds, “It was like someone was stealing money from the cookie jar, and they kept refilling it.” Pacyga says some of the fraudsters were convinced the state agencies were tacitly allowing the fraud. As it turns out, Governor Tim Walz may have been doing exactly that. Nearly 500 Minnesota DHS employees are now calling out Walz for his knowledge and complicity in the fraud.

• Appeals court disqualifies Trump’s U.S. attorney in NJ: A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Donald Trump’s installation of Alina Habba as U.S. Attorney of New Jersey was improper and therefore disqualified her from continuing prosecutions. The court, however, did not toss out the cases Habba was prosecuting. Habba, who has served as Trump’s personal lawyer, was nominated by Trump for the position, and eventually she moved to “first assistant U.S. attorney” when the clock ran out. Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote that the Trump administration’s “efforts to elevate its preferred candidate … to the role of Acting U.S. attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced — yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability.”

• Canada joins EU defense fund, distancing itself from U.S.: In an effort to diversify its military spending away from the United States, Canada has joined a major European Defense fund called Security Action for Europe (SAFE). Canada is the first non-EU country to acquire access to the group. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced, “Canada’s participation in SAFE will fill key capability gaps, expand markets for Canadian suppliers, and attract European defense investment into Canada.” The plan gives Canadian defense companies access to a €150 billion ($170 billion) EU loan program, enabling them to secure cheap, EU-backed loans to procure military equipment. Carney said that the potential for more production in Canada is a factor in this decision, while also allowing him to make good on his promise that no longer will over 70 cents of every dollar of Canadian military spending go to the U.S.

Headlines

• TSA to start charging travelers $45 if they don’t have Real ID (CBS News)

• Democrats begin congressional probe of Kash Patel’s use of FBI Gulfstream jet (CBS News)

• Social Security has less than eight years left (Hot Air)

• Universities aren’t disclosing foreign funding — here’s what Trump plans to do about it (Daily Signal)

• Humor: Tim Walz offers journalists free tampons to stop talking about fraud Scandal (Babylon Bee)

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