Trump says the quiet part out loud – and seems to have three aims for Venezuela
Donald Trump has said the quiet stuff out loud. His Tuesday evening social media post on Venezuela feels like an offload, a dump of thoughts. But it is nonetheless very revealing.
“Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” the US president says.
“It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before…”
That’s a reference to the massive US naval and Air Force presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela. It is indeed an armada, and it’s been there for months now.
On the face of it, it’s all part of an anti-drug mission, to counter the drug trade from Venezuela into America. At least that’s the public messaging. And the missile and drone attacks on suspected drug boats in the region are all part of the play.
And that’s why the second part of his post is particularly interesting, because he now appears to be saying out loud what plenty have suspected all along – that this is actually about regime change, and it is about oil far more than it is about drugs.
He says that the military will remain in place “until such time as they [Venezuela] return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us”.
He continues: “The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping.”
This is a reference to the fact that the US was once a huge importer of Venezuelan oil. American companies based in the country extracted the oil and refineries on the Texan coast processed it. The refineries were adapted over decades to refine the thick, heavy crude that is typical of Venezuela.
The process was big business for American firms until Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez in the 2000s, nationalised the foreign oil assets.
Read more:
The US-Venezuela crisis explained
Trump wants all that back – the oil, the revenue, the influence. So all this, it seems clear now, is about oil, and it is about spheres of influence – hemispheres. Trump is determined to assert American control over the western hemisphere.
The ultimate ambition it seems is threefold:
• To remove the Maduro regime and support a friendly, compliant government;
• To seize control of the oil, through commercial partnerships, not force;
• And to stop any drug and people smuggling into the US.
With this latest social post, Trump has now said all that out loud. Interesting days ahead are certain.
Democrats have shared more pictures from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, a day before the government’s deadline for the full release.
The 68 photos published on Thursday are among more than 95,000 images that the House Oversight Committee Democrats said they were reviewing.
They said the images were “selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos” and to “provide insights into Epstein’s network and his extremely disturbing activities”.
Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
But the Democrats added that they are still analysing thousands more images that are “both graphic and mundane”.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of those pictured in the images – and the context surrounding the photos is not known.
Mystery text quotes price for ‘girl’
The latest cache includes a text message appearing to discuss the price for a girl.
It isn’t clear who sent the messages and to whom, but the screenshot shows some details on an unidentified girl, described as a teenager here.
“I will send u girls now,” one of the texts read.
Pic: @OversightDems
Writing on body
Several pictures show handwritten messages on a person’s body.
One appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita – which can be seen in the background of the picture.
The book was written by Vladimir Nabokov and tells the story of a girl groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.
Another shows writing on a foot, which reads: “She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock.”
The writing appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita. Pic: @OversightDems
Another handwritten message. Pic: @OversightDems
Other messages can be seen on the neck, hip, back and chest, with the latter reading: “The tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down”.
In a different image, Epstein is pictured with three girls in his house in New York. One appears to be touching Epstein’s chest, one is holding her wrist up and another is looking at a laptop.
The identity of the women has been hidden.
Epstein with three women whose faces have been redacted. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein with high-profile figures
Some high-profile figures also appear in the newly released images, with one showing Epstein sitting alongside Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani.
He is the chairman and director of several privately established companies and is a member of the Qatari royal family.
Epstein with Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani. Pic: @OversightDems
Another image shows Epstein with the former president of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak, who held the role between 2017 and 2018. He is also a former Slovakian foreign affairs minister.
Last month, he told TASR news agency: “The reopening of the Epstein case occurred after I left New York, and the full extent of his inexcusable actions, which I strongly condemn, only came to light after his arrest.”
Miroslav Lajcak, former president of the UN General Assembly, next to Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Shaher Abdulhak, a deceased Yemeni billionaire businessman whose son is a suspect in the murder of a Norwegian woman in Mayfair, was also pictured with Epstein.
His son, Farouk Abdulhak, fled to Yemen after the rape and death of Martine Vik Magnussen in March 2008 and has been wanted for questioning ever since.
Ms Magnussen was found dead among rubble in a basement in Great Portland Street.
She and her friends had been celebrating finishing their end-of-term exams at the Maddox nightclub before she vanished. Her body was found two days later.
Deceased Yemeni billionaire Shaher Abdulhak with Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein and Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems
Also featured in the newly released images were former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, magician David Blaine, businessman Tom Pritzker, billionaire Bill Gates, director Woody Allen, talk show host Dick Cavett, Trump ally Steve Bannon, and Kuwait’s former information minister Anas al Rasheed.
Photos of identity documents with redacted names were also published, including one with text saying that “the bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor”, which could belong to convicted sex offender Epstein.
Also among the identification documents is a heavily redacted Russian passport. It belongs to a female, but other information has been blocked out.
The release also includes ID documents from the Czech Republic, South Africa, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
One passport appeared to belong to someone ‘convicted of a sex offense against a minor’. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein’s passport. Pic: @OversightDems
Deadline looming
The picture drop came a day before the deadline set by a bipartisan bill that compels the US Justice Department to release the Epstein files within 30 days, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump last month.
Mr Trump had promised to release the Epstein files during his ultimately successful presidential campaign, but he later made a U-turn, even going as far as calling the Epstein files a Democratic “hoax”, before eventually changing path again to sign the bill.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the deadline that he believes the Department of Justice will release the files in time, and warned that there will be “strong bipartisan pushback” if they don’t.
“Based on my conversations with some of the top Democrats who’ve been working on this matter, related to full and complete disclosure of the Epstein files, we do expect compliance,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Full release going ‘down to the wire’
National security lawyers inside the Department of Justice are “working down to the wire” as Friday’s deadline for the full release of the Epstein files edges closer, according to Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews.
He said those lawyers are mulling “how much is actually divulged in these documents”.
“There will be redactions… the question is, how far short of everything? How far short of the full story will the release fall?” Matthews said.
“The issue at the heart of it… where does Donald Trump feature? Remember, he emphatically denies all knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and any involvement in them.”
Read more:
Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
Ghislaine Maxwell attempts to overturn conviction
‘Frustration building’
Meanwhile, frustration is building at the justice department ahead of the release, according to CNN.
A source has told the US broadcaster that there could be up to 1,000 redactions needed from each attorney.
Lawyers reportedly believe they aren’t getting clear or comprehensive direction on how to make the most information available under the law.
A previous batch of images featured more high-profile figures, including Donald Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Bill Clinton, British entrepreneur Richard Branson, Emirati businessman Ahmed bin Sulayem, and singer Jimmy Buffett.
Several images of a sexual nature have also been released, including a picture of a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Mr Trump’s face, and various sex toys.
TikTok’s Chinese owner has signed a deal to sell the company’s US arm to American investors – ensuring the video platform can continue operating in the United States.
The deal is expected to close on 22 January 2026, according to an internal memo seen by Sky News’ US partner, NBC News.
It will end years of uncertainty over the app’s future in the States, after Joe Biden signed a law last year that required TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell up – or else it would be blocked.
The law was introduced amid concerns from some US politicians that ByteDance might share user data with the Chinese government, despite repeated assurances from the firm that it would not.
Critics also expressed fears that Chinese authorities may be able to manipulate TikTok’s algorithms and shape what content users see and are influenced by. This claim was also denied.
Mr Biden set a January 2025 deadline for the sale and when ByteDance failed to comply, TikTok went dark for several hours.
It returned after Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running on his first day in office.
Who’s taking over?
The internal memo sent to employees on Thursday said the deal allows “over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community.”
TikTok owner ByteDance will sell just over 80% of the company’s US assets to three major investors, Reuters news agency reports.
The investors – Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX – will form a new venture, named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.
Read more from Sky News:
Ex-footballer wins court case
Starmer’s radical pre-Xmas shake-up
The venture will be 50% held by the consortium of US investors, Reuters added, with affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors holding 30.1% and ByteDance itself retaining 19.9%.
It will have a new, seven-member majority-American board of directors and be subject to terms that “protect Americans’ data and US national security”, the memo said.
Data from users in the US will be stored locally.
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