While I am absolutely and
certainly opposed to Trump in many areas, there are some I am in agreement, or
at least partial agreement. I agree that Iran is a threat, Venezuela is a
threat, and Russia is a threat. Sanctions against these three countries are
important and should be continued and increased as much as possible. However,
the sanctions have led to cooperation. Enforcing the sanctions was lax early in
the Russia-Ukraine war due to potential effects on global energy markets.
However, since markets stabilized in 2023 and 2024, it is a good time to
enforce those sanctions and to pressure buyers as well. Trump has done that
with India and a bit with China. Now, we see the possibility of the unraveling
(hopefully) of the extensive sanctions-evasion network of these three
countries.
I am against the
indiscriminate bombing and destruction of the so-called drug boats. While some
of these boats were likely carrying cocaine, and some have been confirmed to be
carrying cannabis, which is legal in much of the U.S., Colombian President
Gustav Petro has also noted that many boats contained cannabis. He even
suggested that some of the illegal farmers should grow cannabis instead of
coca, since it could be more profitable. It is likely that the boats were not
carrying fentanyl and that few if any of them were actually headed to the U.S.
They were more likely headed to Europe, either directly or via Africa. I wrote
about this recently. In any case, I think it is barbaric to simply blow up
these boats, killing all aboard. While it may send a signal that we mean
business, it is still barbaric.
Trump said this morning that
the U.S. is “locked and loaded and ready to go” if Iran uses lethal force
against protestors. While I am not sure what we can do, I agree that the brutal
regime needs to be confronted in some way to prevent or deter such actions. The
country’s militarism, its threat to Israel, and its pursuit of nuclear weapons
must be stopped. Newsweek writes:
“At sea last month, a sanctioned tanker hauling roughly
300,000 barrels of Russian naphtha slipped into Venezuelan waters even as other
ships hesitated or turned back. And U.S. officials have detailed a
Tehran–Caracas drone line, naming a Venezuelan state-owned aerospace firm as a
client for Iranian-designed Mohajer systems. Stitch those frames together and a
startling picture appears: the “Axis of Resistance” in 2026 runs on barrels and
parts—Russia keeps Venezuela’s oil moving, Iran wants to sell the drones and
munitions, and the United States is trying to squeeze both.”
Venezuela needs very light
petroleum liquids like naphtha, condensate, or natural gasoline as a diluent to
allow its heavy oil to flow through pipelines so it can export it. Exports were
up to about a million barrels per day before the impasse, but were cut in half.
If we can prevent that diluent from getting there to be mixed with the oil,
they won’t be able to export oil. Newsweek reports that Russia has replaced
Iran as Venezuela’s supplier of naphtha.
I disagree with the U.S. push
to revive the so-called Monroe Doctrine, which states that we should control
our own Western Hemisphere as our official “sphere of influence,” as people
like Pete Hegseth and Bernie Sanders have argued. Sanders argued in 2022 that
EU and NATO cooperation with Ukraine was impinging on Russia’s right to control
its own sphere of influence, which includes Ukraine. I would ask Bernie, “Does
that include Poland and the Baltic states as wel,l or other Eastern European
countries?” While I don’t agree with the Monroe Doctrine officially, I do think
that we do need to be concerned and protect our sphere of influence
unofficially. We don’t need to assert that we “own” the Western Hemisphere, but
we do need to keep these bad actors, namely Russia and Iran, the hell out of
it, especially in their criminal aspects. Newsweek reports that one Russian
tanker carrying naphtha did make it to port in Venezuela in late December.
Newsweek also reports:
“Meanwhile, Iran is offering Venezuela something else.
On December 30, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned a Venezuela–Iran network that, it
says, facilitated “millions of dollars’” in combat UAV sales and local
assembly, naming Venezuela’s state company EANSA and its chair alongside
Iranian partners tied to Mohajer-series drones. That same week Washington also
targeted 29 “shadow-fleet” vessels and their managers moving Iranian oil, and
separately hit Venezuela-linked traders and tankers.”
“Tehran is already adapting. The Financial Times
reported that Iran’s defense export arm is now offering major weapons for
payment in cryptocurrency—one of the first overt cases of a state advertising
crypto-denominated arms sales.”
Iran’s ability to manufacture
and sell arms to other countries and to build up its military capabilities
needs to be stopped. They caused a lot of problems in Lebanon and Syria, which
thankfully have been mitigated. The Russians aided in developing those
problems. With the liberation of Syria from Assad and the weakening of
Hezbollah, things have improved, but Iran’s militarism has yet to be squelched.
Shipments of arms to the Houthis have been blocked, and the Houthis have been
weakened a bit by U.S. bombing, but they are still a regional threat. The
Iranian regime has one of the worst human rights records in the world and is
also a world leader in executions, often of political prisoners. Newsweek
concludes:
“Put it together and the “Axis of Resistance” looks less
like an ideological bloc and more like an “Axis of Invoices.” Russia supplies
the thinning liquid that lets Venezuela ship oil while Iran supplies the drones
and munitions that tie Caracas to Tehran’s military-industrial ecosystem. The
United States is trying to raise the cost and lower the reliability of both
flows.”
This adamantly ‘anti-Western’
axis of criminality needs to be weakened and basically put out of business. The
latest Iranian demand to be paid in cryptocurrency is another indication that
crypto is the preferred payment method of criminals. Crypto is not only good
for criminals. The Trumps are said to have increased their net worth by over $1
billion in 2025 due to crypto investments. The president was said to have
doubled his net worth in 2025, despite his crypto and media investments losing
value. According to The Daily Beast:
“Even though his $TRUMP coin crashed, the president
raked in $362 million in profits through sales of tokens and fees.”
Thus, he profited while his
investors lost out.
“The billionaire president himself has not lost out as a
result of his businesses’ shortcomings; Forbes estimates his net worth has more
than doubled over the past year thanks mostly to gains in various crypto
investments.”
“In October, the Financial Times calculated that Trump
and his family had reaped more than $1 billion in crypto cash, thanks to an
industry boom fueled by the administration’s own crypto-friendly policies.”
“Sons Eric, 41, and Donald Jr., 48, increased their net
worth tenfold and sixfold, respectively, according to Forbes. Eric Trump now
has an estimated net worth of $750 million thanks largely to his stake in his
crypto-mining business, while Donald Jr. is worth an estimated $500 million.”
Meanwhile, the rest of us
must deal with the ever-rising cost of living.
To get back to the
Russia-Iran-Venezuela nexus, these countries have defied international laws for
far too long. The U.S. should set an example by complying with international
laws and domestic laws by ceasing to blow up drug boats. We should continue to
weaken the organized criminals, militant groups, and rogue government support
for them, and work to weaken and eliminate these bastions of corruption.
Corruption is a huge problem all around the world, and we should all work
against it where we can.
In the waters of Finland, a
Russian ship carrying banned Russian steel was interdicted by Finnish
authorities. Russian ships and sanctioned tankers have been strongly implicated
in damaging undersea cables and acting as drone launching sites around Europe
as a somewhat overt intimidation tactic. Russia’s abysmal wartime behavior in
Ukraine, with its war crimes and exceptional brutality to Ukrainians,
civilians, and its own Russian soldiers, is indisputably barbaric. It would
also be nice to see more interdiction of Russia’s extensive shadow fleets.
Putin’s insane push to allow thousands of deaths in the so-called
“meat-grinder” assaults is a truly barbaric military strategy. Its military
behavior, along with its ‘axis of insanity’ allies, which also includes the
truly barbaric country that is North Korea, needs to be very strongly resisted,
and any peace negotiations need to be very harsh on Russia, not on Ukraine.
One thing that is clear to me
and should be clear to everyone is who the bad actors are. Any thoughts or
concessions to the contrary are simply incorrect and out of touch. Negotiating
post-war business deals with Russia should not make up any part of the peace
negotiation process. I would advocate for zero sanctions relief as part of any
peace deal. Russia unapologetically crossed the line over the past eleven years
in Ukraine and needs to be held to account.
References:
Uncommon
knowledge: Trump faces a new axis of resistance. Newsweek Editors. Newsweek. January
2, 2026. Uncommon
knowledge: Trump faces a new axis of resistance
Billionaire
Trump raked in a fortune as his investors lost out. Janna Brancolini. The Daily
Beast. January 2, 2026. Billionaire
Trump raked in a fortune as his investors lost out
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