Three, possibly more, KC-135R “Stratotanker” Aerial-Refueling Tankers outbound from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, heading in the direction of the Caribbean Sea, with other strike and support assets also appearing to depart bases in the Mainland United States. Unusual movements to see on Christmas, likely additional pre-positioning to bases in the Caribbean or in preparation for another “show of force” off the coast of Venezuela.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to meet President Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday, to discuss ongoing efforts and peace negotiations to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The USS Paul Ignatius (DDG-117) fired roughly a dozen BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM) against an ISIS-affiliated site in Northwestern Nigeria on the evening of Christmas Day, with the strikes being carried out with the support of Nigeria’s Government, against a target that was too remote for an operation by the Nigerian Armed Forces, a U.S. defense official told Reuters.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces has announced that fighter aircraft with the Polish and Allied Air Forces have been scrambled in response to the ongoing Russian drone and missile attack against Western Ukraine, with ground-based air defense systems as well as radar reconnaissance systems having also been raised to their maximum state-of-readiness across Poland.

Someone is panicking…

Following the meeting Sunday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Beach, Florida; President Donald J. Trump will meet Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation in Gaza, several officials have told Axios.

The future of the peace agreement in Gaza is expected to hinge on the meeting, with White House officials becoming increasing frustrated with Netanyahu, who they feel is “slow-walking” and undermining the peace process, while fearing that Israel will soon resume its full-scale war with Hamas.

Like the Biden Administration before them, Trump’s team has found itself bickering with the Israelis for weeks on tactical matters like opening the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt and supplying tents to displaced Palestinians seeking shelter for the Winter. “It's J.D., Marco, Jared, Steve, Susie. Netanyahu has lost them. The only one he has left is the President, who still likes him, but even he wants to see the Gaza deal moving faster than it is right now,” a White House official told Axios.

Overnight and into this morning, Russia launched a major missile and drone attack against Ukraine, once again, one of the largest of the war, primarily targeting the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, with cruise missiles and one-way attack drones striking power infrastructure and high-rise residential buildings across the city, all prior to Sunday’s meeting in Florida between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald J. Trump.

Video footage of a Russian Shahed-style attack drone striking a power line and bursting into a ball of flames in the southeastern suburb of Kyiv, during this morning’s large-scale drone and missile attack against Ukraine.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated in an interview published earlier today that Iran is in the midst of a “total war” against the United States, Israel and Europe, adding that any further acts of aggression against Iran would be met with a more decisive response from the Iranian Armed Forces.

Russia has already or is likely in the process of stationing new nuclear-capable intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missiles, refereed to by the Russian Armed Forces as the Oreshnik, at a former airbase near Krichev in Eastern Belarus, a development which could bolster Russia’s ability to quickly deliver missiles to targets across Europe in the case of a conventional or nuclear conflict with NATO, two U.S. researchers have found by studying satellite imagery, an assessment that broadly aligns with U.S. intelligence findings shared with Reuters.

In response to the Russian deployment in Belarus, plans by the Pentagon have been accelerated for the stationing of American cruise and hypersonic surface-to-surface missiles in Germany, including the U.S. Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), also known as Dark Eagle, which features a hypersonic boost-glide vehicle and is expected to arrive in Germany in 2026.

With how much of the U.S. Navy and other military assets are currently positioned in the Caribbean, and recent talks about the Trump Administration pivoting its focus away from Asia and Europe and instead towards the Western Hemisphere, in my opinion, now would not be too bad of a time for China to make some kind of move on Taiwan, even if they aren't fully prepared for an invasion and/or war with Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

Footage published earlier by the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army as part of the lead up to Exercise “Justice Mission 2025” encircling the Island of Taiwan.

The China Maritime Safety Administration has issued an additional two warning zones to the west and north of Taiwan as part of the snap-military drills announced for Monday under “Justice Mission 2025,” with Zone 7 located directly to the north of Zone 3 covering the Taiwan Strait while Zone 6 is positioned between both Zone 1 and 2, all within Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone.

Credit for the Visualization: @TaiwanMonitor on X

Poster released by Chinese state media ahead of Monday’s snap-military drills around the Island of Taiwan, dubbed “Justice Mission 2025,” showing satellite imagery of Taiwanese airbases and other military sites with the text: “How could you ever attempt independence?”

A Dassault Falcon 2000MSA (Maritime Surveillance Aircraft) with the Japanese Coast Guard has lifted off from Naha Air Base in Okinawa and is currently heading southwest in the direction of Taiwan.