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Johnson insists US ‘not at war’ after closed-door Venezuela briefing divides lawmakers
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A select group of lawmakers received their first closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill on Monday following the Trump administration’s weekend military strikes in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro — a meeting that quickly divided along political lines.
The roughly two-hour meeting deep in the bowels of Congress featured top administration officials providing a classified briefing to congressional leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the armed services, intelligence and foreign relations committees.
None of the Trump officials, who included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan «Raizin» Caine and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, spoke after the meeting.
FETTERMAN DEFENDS TRUMP’S VENEZUELA MILITARY OPERATION AGAINST CRITICISM FROM FELLOW DEMOCRATS
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., walks from the chamber to speak with reporters after the final vote to bring the longest government shutdown in history to an end, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
But a handful of lawmakers did, and questions still lingered about what exactly would come next for U.S. involvement in the country, if other similar operations would be carried out across the globe, and who exactly was running Venezuela.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that there was no expectation that the U.S. would be on the ground, nor would there be any «direct involvement in any other way beyond just coercing the interim government to to get that going.»
«We are not at war,» Johnson said. «We do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country.»
«This is not a regime change,» he continued. «This is a demand for change of behavior by a regime. The interim government is stood up now, and we are hopeful that they will be able to correct their action.»
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, R-Fl., echoed Johnson, and reiterated that the operation was a «specific law enforcement function that took place that took a significant obstacle out of the way for the Venezuelan people to go chart a new future.»
NAVY SECRETARY PRAISES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S MADURO CAPTURE AS ‘MASTERCLASS IN PRECISION’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the Trump administration in January over its strike on Venezuela and capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro, on drug trafficking conspiracy charges. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
He didn’t expect further military action from the Trump administration in the country, either.
«These things are done before breakfast,» Mast said. «They don’t do protracted war operations.»
However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., countered that the lengthy meeting «posed far more questions than it ever answered.»
One growing point of contention among lawmakers is just how directly involved the U.S. will be, given that Trump said that the U.S. would govern the country until a proper transition of power happened.
Schumer said that the plan presented behind closed doors or the U.S. running Venezuela «is vague, based on wishful thinking and unsatisfying.»
«I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries,» he said. «And in conclusion, when the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so called nation building, it always ends up hurting the United States. I left the briefing feeling that it would again.»
FOX NEWS POLITICS NEWSLETTER: 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP’S PUSH TO PUT US OIL FIRMS BACK IN VENEZUELA
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., questions Russ Vought, not pictured, in a Senate hearing in 2025 in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Schumer, along with Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., plan to force a vote later in the week on a war powers resolution that, if passed, would require the administration to get congressional approval before taking further military action in Venezuela.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that he was satisfied with the briefing and that «it was a very comprehensive discussion.»
Lawmakers will get another bite at the apple later in the week when Trump officials again return to Congress to provide a full briefing to lawmakers on Operation Absolute Resolve.
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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, lauded the military for a «brilliant execution» of the mission, and noted that the region was better off without Maduro.
But, like Schumer, he was still searching for the next step.
«The question becomes, as policymakers, what happens the day after,» Warner said.
politics,venezuelan political crisis,chuck schumer,mike johnson
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Catholics, conservatives cheer ouster of ex-Miss California from WH religious panel after hijacking hearing
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The Trump administration swiftly removed Carrie Prejen Boller, a former Miss California winner, from a White House religious council amid accusations she worked to «hijack» a hearing on antisemitism, earning applause from religious leaders and conservatives.
«Carrie Prejean was thrown off the Religious Liberty Commission, and thank God,» a former Trump White House official told Fox News Digital in reaction to the ouster. «These commissions exist to advance the President’s agenda, not to serve as a personal Jew-hating platform.»
Prejean Boller was ousted from the White House Religious Liberty Commission after she worked to «hijack a hearing» held Monday regarding antisemitism in the U.S. to promote her «own personal and political agenda on any issue,» according to chair of the commission, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Prejean Boller is the 2009 Miss California USA winner who was stripped of her crown over allegations of breaching contract. She gained nationwide attention in 2009 for speaking out against legalizing gay marriage from the pageant’s stage.
MAMDANI’S ANTISEMITISM CZAR ONCE SLAMMED POST CONDEMNING HAMAS TERROR ATTACKS
Trump owned the Miss Universe Organization at the time and defended Prejean Boller, then Carrie Prejean.
Carrie Prejean Boller was removed from a White House religious council amid accusations she «hijacked» a hearing on antisemitism. (Steve Marcus/Reuters)
Trump established the religious liberty commission in May via an executive order directing the Department of Justice to provide support to the newly formed body focused on upholding «Federal laws that protect all citizens’ full participation in a pluralistic democracy, and protect the free exercise of religion.»
The commission held a hearing Monday at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on combating antisemitism and upholding religious freedom, where Prejean Boller wore a Palestinian flag pin and got into tense exchanges.
Prejean Boller converted to Catholicism from evangelical Christianity in April and invoked her Catholic faith in comments rejecting Zionism during the hearing.
TARGETED FOR THEIR FAITH OVERSEAS, PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS GET A WHITE HOUSE WELCOME UNDER TRUMP
«I am a Catholic, and Catholics don’t embrace Zionism,» she said.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue swiftly called for her ouster in an opinion piece published on his organization’s website, underscoring that she did not represent Catholics in her remarks.
«Prejean Boller is a former Miss California and a convert to Catholicism,» he wrote Wednesday. «She does not run a Catholic organization, has no Catholic credentials as an author or instructor, and indeed represents no one but herself. For her to say, without qualification, that ‘Catholics do not embrace Zionism,’ is presumptuous and arrogant.»
«Zionism is a movement that promotes Jewish self-determination in a homeland,» he said. «There are millions of Catholics like myself who, even if they do not identify themselves as Zionists, recognize the Jewish state of Israel. Prejean Boller apparently does not—she is more comfortable showing up at the Religious Liberty Commission wearing a Palestinian flag pin. So telling.»
Shawn Carney, president and CEO of 40 Days for Life pro-life group, added in comment to Fox Digital that her «claim that Catholics are against Jews is absurd.»
«This division is a recent fad and an online invention,» Carney said. «For centuries, Catholics have understood that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom and that our faith comes from the Jews. Catholic teaching holds that the Church is the fulfillment of the promises of the Old Covenant. To suddenly claim that Catholics are against Jews is absurd — it is a modern, internet-based error.»
He added that Trump has a very strong track record of hiring and appointing Catholics to his administration, noting «no president in modern history has done more to protect religious liberty for both Catholics and Jews.»
US President Donald Trump bows his head in prayer during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC on February 5, 2026. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
At one point, Prejean Boller got into a heated exchange with Shabbos Kestenbaum, a former Harvard student who sued the university over its response to antisemitism.
«Are you willing to condemn what Israel has done in Gaza?» Prejean Boller asked Kestenbaum during the hearing. «You won’t condemn that? Just on the record.»
She also defended Candace Owens when pressed by Babylon Bee Founder and CEO Seth Dillon if the commentator had ever made antisemitic remarks.
«Do you think anything Candace has said is antisemitic?» he asked her, after referring to Owens as one of the «most famous antisemites» in the current political landscape.
«No, I don’t,» Prejean Boller replied.
Donald Trump, when he was the owner of the Miss Universe Organization, poses with Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean on May 12, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
The former Trump White House official continued in comment to Fox Digital that backing Israel has long been a priority for President Donald Trump.
«President Donald Trump has been clear for decades that he stands proudly with the Jewish people and with America’s closest ally, Israel,» the former official said. «Supporting Israel and standing with Jewish Americans is not just morally right, it is America First.»
TRUMP SAYS GOP, MAGA MOVEMENT DOESN’T NEED, DISLIKES PEOPLE WITH ANTISEMITIC VIEWS
«President Trump delivered historic victories for the Jewish people. He recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there. He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He brokered the Abraham Accords and reshaped the Middle East. He kept his promise to bring every last hostage home and made clear that antisemitism at home will be confronted head on, including holding universities accountable when Jewish students are targeted.»
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz criticized Carrie Prejean Boller for her remarks at a hearing on antisemitism on Feb. 9, 2026. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Conservatives and others on social media celebrated her ouster while condemning her remarks at the hearing.
«The only one who brought up Zionism at the event was … Carrie Prejean Boller,» account Bonchie posted. «Classic grifter play happening here. Cause a scene of her own making, claim to be the victim, profit. A story as old as time.»
«Whatever you think of the rest of Carrie Prejean Boller’s views, wearing a Palestinian flag to a hearing on religious liberty is disgraceful,» president of WorldStrat information warfare firm and chief editor of the Middle East Forum Jim Hanson posted.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said that while he does not personally know Prejean Boller, what he saw of her actions was «just sad.»
«There are 57 Muslim countries on earth; this poor thing has been deluded into thinking that the fact that Israel exists — in the promised land given to the Jewish people thousands of years ago by Jehovah — is somehow the source of all her troubles.» he wrote. «And no, Catholics don’t hate Israel. As Charlie Kirk said repeatedly, antisemitism is a brain rot, and someone has been pouring this poison into her head.»
FOX NEWS ‘ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED’ NEWSLETTER: WALZ SHOCKS WITH MISGUIDED HOLOCAUST COMPARISON
Patrick said he personally made the decision to remove her, while Prejean Boller responded on X that only the president could order her removal.
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick serves as the chair of the White House Religious Liberty Commission. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle)
«You did not appoint me to the Commission, and you lack authority to remove me from it,» Prejean Boller wrote on X in response to Patrick. «This is a gross overstepping of your role and leads me to believe you are acting in alignment with a Zionist political framework that hijacked the hearing, rather than in defense of religious liberty.»
Cruz shot back on X: «Let’s be clear: it was President Trump who fired her.»
The former Miss California has continued to stick by her remarks, saying she «will never bend the knee to the state of Israel. Ever.»
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«Christians have been manipulated into believing that God blesses bombing, starvation, and mass killing,» Prejean posted to X. «That is the opposite of Christ, who came to stand with the suffering and confront power. I reject that lie completely. I am not owned by money, donors, or access. I belong to Christ alone who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I would rather die than bend the knee to Israel.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment on the matter Thursday, and attempted to reach Prejean Boller Friday for comment.
white house,donald trump,religion,israel,christianity,roman catholic
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El heredero del sah de Irán propuso liderar la transición hacia la democracia en el país si el régimen ayatolá cae
Reza Pahlavi, hijo exiliado del último sha de Irán, se declaró dispuesto a liderar el país hacia un “futuro democrático secular” durante su discurso en un evento público en Múnich, al que acudieron más de 200.000 personas.
“Estoy aquí para garantizar una transición hacia un futuro democrático secular”, expresó y sumó: “Me comprometo a ser el líder de la transición para que un día podamos tener la oportunidad final de decidir el destino de nuestro país a través de un proceso democrático y transparente hasta las urnas”.
La multitud coreó “Javid shah” (larga vida al sha) mientras ondeaban banderas con el emblema de la monarquía derrocada. “El régimen iraní es un régimen muerto. Se acabó”, expresó un manifestante iraní de 62 años.
Pahlavi instó a los iraníes dentro y fuera del país a continuar las protestas, llamando a corear consignas desde casas y tejados a las 20:00 del sábado y del domingo, en sincronía con manifestaciones en Alemania y otros países.
Miles de personas marcharon en ciudades como Los Ángeles y Washington, en solidaridad con las protestas contra el régimen liderado por Ali Khamenei.
En una rueda de prensa anterior, el heredero del sah de Irán afirmó que no tiene intención de llegar al poder ni ponerse la corona en Teherán y agregó: “Mi único objetivo es ver el día en que la gente iraní pueda finalmente ser capaz de elegir su futuro gobierno democrático. El día que eso ocurra, considero que es el fin de mi misión política en la vida”, expresó durante el mitin en Múnich.
Pahlavi manifestó su convicción de contar con el respaldo de los iraníes. “La gente en Irán cree en mi liderazgo, porque saben que no tengo nada que ganar”, sostuvo. El heredero del sha insistió en que no busca ningún beneficio personal a cambio de su compromiso con el cambio político en su país. “No quiero nada a cambio”, remarcó.
Desde Estados Unidos, el presidente Donald Trump reiteró que un cambio de régimen en Irán sería “lo mejor”. En paralelo, confirmó que un segundo portaaviones se dirigía a Medio Oriente para aumentar la presión militar sobre Teherán.
Previamente, advirtió con una intervención militar en apoyo a las protestas que en enero alcanzaron su punto máximo y fueron reprimidas brutalmente. La violencia de la Guardia Revolucionaria contra los manifestantes causó miles de muertes según organizaciones de derechos humanos.
“Al presidente Trump… El pueblo iraní le escuchó decir que la ayuda está en camino y tiene fe en usted. Ayúdelos”, declaró Pahlavi ante la prensa en la Conferencia de Seguridad de Múnich. “Es hora de acabar con la República Islámica”.
Eli Afriat)
El jueves pasado, el líder opositor calificó como “revolución” las protestas masivas reprimidas en y admitió que buscó coordinar y apoyar a la oposición desde el exterior mediante la construcción de puentes entre grupos disidentes.
Pahlaví aseguró que el movimiento no se rendirá, aunque reconoció que la lucha podría prolongarse y seguir cobrando vidas humanas. “No hay vuelta atrás”, advirtió.
Según la ONG Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), con sede en Estados Unidos, las manifestaciones dejaron más de 7.000 muertos, cifra que continúa en aumento debido a las restricciones a las comunicaciones impuestas por las autoridades iraníes.
Pahlaví calificó al régimen como “debilitado”, con el liderazgo oculto en búnkeres y familias trasladando sus bienes al extranjero. En ese sentido, remarcó que “un ataque selectivo contra los aparatos represivos —fuerzas de seguridad y la Guardia Revolucionaria— no sería una intervención externa, sino una acción humanitaria para la liberación” y consideró que podría “prevenir más asesinatos masivos”.
(Con información de AFP)
Business,Civil Conflict,Demonstrations,International Relations,Riots,Royals,Top Picture,Corporate Events,Diplomacy / Foreign Policy,Europe,Royals,Civil Unrest
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