Tonight’s Address to the Nation by President Donald J. Trump will be given from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House at 9:00 P.M. EST, with topics expected to include current economic policy, upcoming policy for next year, and possible issues surrounding Venezuela.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has announced, that at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, military forces under Joint Task Force-Southern Spear (JTF-SS) carried out a strike earlier today, December 17, on an alleged narco-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific. According to SOUTHCOM, intelligence indicated that the vessel was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route and carrying illicit narcotics, with four suspected narco-terrorists killed in the strike, all believed to have been members of a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO).

The Trump Administration has begun asking American-based oil companies, including but not limited to Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton and Weatherford, if they would be interested in returning operations to Venezuela once President Nicolás Maduro has been removed from power, and so far, the answer is a hard, "no", three people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.

According to internal guidance issued for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by the Trump Administration and obtained by The New York Times, field offices with the USCIS are asked to supply the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month in 2026. As President Trump and other members of the administration seek to drastically ramp up their ongoing immigration crackdown in the coming year, which includes attempts to remove the citizenship of thousands of Americans.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump announces that all servicemembers will be receiving a $1,776 bonus before Christmas.

The U.S. State Department tonight announced a massive new arms package, the largest in history, for Taiwan. The package, worth over $11 billion, is likely to infuriate China and is set to include:

- The U.S. Armed Force’s Tactical Mission Network (TMN)
- 82 M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
- 420 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS)
- 120 M109A7 “Paladin” Self-Propelled Howitzers and M992A3 Carrier Ammunition Tracked Vehicles
- 1,545 Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) 2B BGM-71F-7-RF Missiles
- 1,050 FGM-148F “Javelin” Anti-Tank Missiles
- Seekers and Repairs for Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles
- ALTIUS-600M and 700M Loitering-Munition Systems
- Spare and Repair Parts for AH-1W “SuperCobra” Attack Helicopters

BLKCAT6, a U.S. Navy MQ-4C “Triton” High-Altitude Surveillance Drone, departed earlier tonight from Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, and is currently heading south over the Caribbean for a night patrol off the coast of Venezuela.

Congrats to American entrepreneur, pilot, and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman, for being confirmed earlier today in a vote of 67-30 by the Senate as the 15th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Footage released today by the Ukrainian General Staff showing a series of drone strikes carried out on December 14, against the 568th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the Russian Air Force near Raivka in the Belgorod Oblast of Western Russia, by the 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, also known as the “Black Forest” Brigade. The strikes targeted and destroyed two fully-loaded launchers for an S-400 Surface-to-Air Missile Battery.

Reports of a crash involving a private jet, with no survivors, at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.

According to local sources, the passengers onboard the private jet that crashed earlier at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, possibly included a NASCAR Driver.

NASCAR Driver John Hunter Nemechek calling for prayers in a post this morning, following the reported crash of a private jet owned by another possible driver at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.

Reports are now indicating that the private plane which crashed this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, was a 1981 Cessna Citation II with the tail number “N257BW” owned by NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle.

Footage showing the immediate aftermath of this morning’s crash involving a Cessna Citation II at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina.

Local media is reporting that the private jet, a Cessna Citation II, which crashed earlier this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, contained NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle, his wife, and children.

Two dozens unidentified large, military-style drones flew in formation over Faßberg Air Base in Northern Germany on December 16, which houses the primary technical-logistical training centre for helicopters operated by both the German Air Force and the Army. Prior to Tuesday night’s incident, a swarm of roughly two dozen drones, likely the same ones seen on Tuesday over Faßberg, flew in circles over the Celler-Immelmann Barracks for several hours last Friday. During both incidents, no drones were drowned or attempted to be downed, as they “did not pose an immediate danger and there was nothing to spy on,” according to the Bundeswehr.

In press conference moments ago, authorities confirmed that the the private jet, a Cessna Citation II, which crashed earlier this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, was owned by NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle but did not state whether he or his family were onboard the jet at the time of the crash, adding that the airport is currently closed amid an ongoing investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

American entrepreneur, pilot, and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman was officially sworn-in as the 15th Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, during a ceremony this morning at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C.