What's next for the beleaguered nation? And what does U.S. President Donald Trump plan to do?

President Donald Trump, joined by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, announces plans for a “Golden Fleet” of new U.S. Navy battleships, Monday, December 22, 2025, at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

"There's a tremendous amount of momentum building here, not just for the naval strikes, but the president has said on numerous occasions that land would be next," said Real Clear Politics White House correspondent Phillip Wegman And at this point, I don't know who is more bold or perhaps foolhardy, the captain of that Venezuelan oil tanker that's trying to run away from the U.S. Navy, or Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who continues to defy Donald Trump. In both cases, it's kind of a bold strategy.

We'll see how it works out, but Trump has shown, in the U.S., he has the political capital to keep doing this without a declaration of war, and obviously, on the military front, he has overwhelming force. So, calling his bluff seems to be rather short-sighted.