The U.S. may be signaling an expansion of its Venezuela-focused campaign to include ground operations, based on recent remarks from President Donald Trump.

Speaking Friday with radio host John Catsimitidis, Trump said the U.S. had struck a ‘big facility’ while discussing Washington’s broader effort against Latin American drug trafficking – an apparent reference to a drug production or trafficking site.

‘They have a big plant or a big facility where the ships come from,’ Trump said, without identifying Venezuela as the target. ‘Two nights ago we knocked that out.’

Asked about the comments on Monday, Trump told reporters the strike was ‘along the shore’ but declined to share whether it was conducted by the U.S. military or another entity like the CIA.

‘I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who it was,’ he said. 

‘We hit all the boats, and now we hit the area. It’s the implementation area. That’s where they implement. And that is no longer around,’ the president said during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He added there was a ‘major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.’

If the facility was indeed on Venezuelan soil, it would mark the first known attack on land since the U.S. began bombing alleged narco-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters in early September. 

More than two dozen strikes have killed 105 people so far.

While Venezuela is a known hub for trafficking drugs, such as cocaine that originates in Colombia, it is not a production hot spot. Months ago, Trump authorized the CIA to carry out covert action in Venezuela. 

In recent weeks, Trump has ramped up pressure aimed at pushing leader Nicolás Maduro from power by announcing a blockade of Venezuela and seizing two ships carrying sanctioned oil.

The White House and Pentagon have not publicly confirmed whether any recent strike occurred on Venezuelan soil. Maduro’s government has not publicly acknowledged the attack.

After prior strikes in the counter-drug campaign, the administration has touted success, even posting footage on social media of boats being struck. However, if the action was carried out covertly, it would limit what U.S. officials could share. 

Trump’s comments come amid the largest military buildup in the Caribbean in decades, with some 15,000 troops and the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, stationed in the region. 

Outgoing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated to the New York Times Magazine that President Donald Trump, lacks ‘faith’ and does not reciprocate loyalty. 

She also said that she disapproves of ‘MAGA Mar-a-Lago sexualization,’ and indicated that she expects the U.S. to engage in ‘more war’ as the president seeks to maintain his grip on power.

Greene, a once ardent Trump supporter who had a dramatic falling out with the GOP juggernaut this year, is dishing out scathing criticism of the president she once lauded.

Here are some takeaways from her comments reported by the New York Times Magazine:

Greene says Trump ‘does not have any faith’

Earlier this year, during remarks at the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Trump said of Kirk, ‘He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them.’

By contrast, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk announced that she forgave the suspected killer.

 ‘It just shows where his heart is. And that’s the difference, with her having a sincere Christian faith, and proves that he does not have any faith,’ Greene opined, according to the Times.

Greene on ‘MAGA Mar-a-Lago sexualization’

Greene objected to what she referred to as ‘sexualization’ among MAGA women.

‘I never liked the MAGA Mar-a-Lago sexualization. I believe how women in leadership present themselves sends a message to younger women,’ she noted, according to the Times. 

‘I have two daughters, and I’ve always been uncomfortable with how those women puff up their lips and enlarge their breasts. I’ve never spoken about it publicly, but I’ve been planning to,’ she noted.

Greene says Trump lacks loyalty

The New York Times Magazine reported that Greene said regarding loyalty and Trump, that it is ‘a one-way street — and it ends like that whenever it suits him.’

Last month, after President Donald Trump issued posts lambasting Greene on Truth Social, the congresswoman announced that she would resign from office, noting that her last day would be January 5.

Greene suggests ‘more war’ on the horizon

Greene suggested that the U.S. is headed for ‘more war.’

‘In my opinion,’ Greene opined, according to the outlet, ‘we’re going to see more war. Because what do you do when you really lose power, when you become a lame duck? How do you cling to power? You go to war.’

Greene indicates House Speaker Mike Johnson is following orders from the White House

Greene suggested that House Speaker Mike Johnson is just taking orders from the White House.

‘I want you to know that Johnson is not our speaker,’ Greene asserted, according to the Times. ‘He is not our leader. And in the legislative branch — a totally separate body of government — he is literally 100 percent under direct orders from the White House. And many, many Republicans are so furious about that, but they’re cowards.’

White House responds

The White House pushed back against Greene’s comments about Johnson, asserting to Fox News Digital, ‘We have a very collaborative relationship with Speaker Johnson just like we do with Leader Thune, which is why we’ve had so much success this year.’

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle accused Greene of ‘petty bitterness.’

‘President Trump remains the undisputed leader of the greatest and fastest growing political movement in American history — the MAGA movement. On the other hand, Congresswoman Greene is quitting on her constituents in the middle of her term and abandoning the consequential fight we’re in — we don’t have time for her petty bitterness,’ Ingle noted in a statement. 

North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles as leader Kim Jong Un pledged to continue ‘unlimited’ development of its nuclear stockpile, according to state media. 

The launches involved cruise missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads, according to North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim promised to ‘devote all their efforts to the unlimited and sustained development of the state nuclear combat force.’

The weapons flew over the country’s west coast for close to three hours, KCNA said. It did not reveal how far the missiles traveled.

KCNA said the drills were intended to demonstrate the ‘combat readiness of the nuclear deterrence force’ and ensure the country’s ability to carry out what it called a ‘swift and overwhelming retaliatory strike’ in the event of war.

‘The launch drill served as a clear warning to the enemies who are seriously threatening the security environment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,’ KCNA reported, using the country’s formal name.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said its military detected the launch of multiple cruise missiles around 8 a.m. Sunday from the Sunan area near Pyongyang.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the launches were part of a series of recent military activities by North Korea that ‘undermine peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.’

North Korea has also recently highlighted what it claims is progress on a nuclear-powered submarine program, releasing new images of Kim inspecting construction at a shipyard alongside his daughter.

The Korean Central News Agency said the vessel is an 8,700-ton-class nuclear-propelled submarine that Pyongyang intends to arm with nuclear weapons. Kim has described the project as a key step in modernizing and nuclear-arming North Korea’s navy, though the regime has not provided independent verification of the submarine’s capabilities.

Analysts say North Korea fields multiple types of cruise missiles and has conducted several test launches over the past year, but there is no definitive public estimate of how many the regime possesses.

Outside expert assessments estimate North Korea has assembled roughly 50 nuclear warheads, with enough fissile material to potentially produce between 70 and 90 weapons, though exact figures remain uncertain due to the secrecy surrounding Pyongyang’s program.

President Donald Trump has said he remains open to negotiations with North Korea, but Kim has signaled he would only engage with Washington if denuclearization is removed from the agenda – a stance that underscores the wide gap between the two sides.

Cruise missiles pose a particular challenge for missile defense systems because they fly at lower altitudes and can maneuver in flight, making them harder to detect than ballistic missiles.

North Korea remains under sweeping international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, restrictions that Kim has vowed to overcome through weapons development rather than negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated in a post on X that Ukraine would like to have 30, 40 or even 50 years of security guarantees from the U.S. and that President Donald Trump said the U.S. will consider it.

Zelenskyy met with Trump in Florida on Sunday, as his nation remains locked in a deadly, protracted war against Russia, and the U.S. administration aims to help broker peace.

In a Monday post on X, the president of the embattled Eastern European nation indicated that Trump had ‘confirmed strong security guarantees’ during their meeting.

‘He confirmed the details that had been developed up to this point by our negotiating teams regarding these security guarantees, and he confirmed that they would be put to a vote by the United States Congress. This is a very strong agreement,’ Zelenskyy noted.

During a joint press conference alongside Zelenskyy on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he offered any promises or assurances of security for Ukraine.

‘I did. We wanna work with Europe,’ Trump answered, adding that Europe will ‘take over a big part of it’ but that the U.S. will assist.

Zelenskyy, in another Monday post on X, indicated that Ukraine would like decades of security guarantees from the U.S.

‘In the documents, the guarantees are set for 15 years, with the possibility of extension. I raised this issue with the President. I told him that our war has already been going on for more than a decade, and therefore, we would very much like the guarantees to last longer. We would like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, or 50 years. It would then become a historic decision by President Trump. The President said that the U.S. would consider it,’ the foreign leader noted in the post.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Monday for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

President Donald Trump is taking action against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria, following through on previous threats and signing off on airstrikes targeting the group on Thursday. 

While the Christmas strikes zeroed in on ISIS militants, there are a number of violent extremist organizations operating in Africa’s Sahel region, where U.S. officials claim they are continuing to grow in influence and strength as violence surges there. 

The strikes conducted on Christmas occurred in Nigeria’s Sokoto State on the border of neighboring Niger. The area is where the Islamic State’s (IS) Sahel Province, which is largely based in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, has ‘made inroads into Nigeria,’ according to Caleb Weiss, an editor with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal. 

‘In Sokoto, it has carried out attacks against both government forces and civilians, representing just one jihadist group operating in Nigeria,’ Weiss said in a statement Thursday.

Additionally, other ISIS branches like IS West Africa Province, as well as organizations tied to other violent extremist groups like al Qaeda, are also active in the region, he said. These include Boko Haram, a Nigerian-based group that the State Department designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2013, as well as offshoots of al Qaeda like Ansaru and The Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, also known as Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, or JNIM.

‘In addition to IS Sahel, there is also IS West Africa Province, which supports and coordinates with IS Sahel in NW Nigeria; the so-called Boko Haram; and the Al-Qaeda groups of Ansaru and the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, which, like IS Sahel, is a group mainly based in Mali and Burkina Faso, but in recent years have also made inroads into Nigeria that has effectively made the Sahelian and Nigerian conflicts one large conflict,’ Weiss said. 

Meanwhile, the Sahel region, which primarily includes Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, is ripe for terrorist activity, and U.S. officials have long cautioned about the threat that these groups pose to the U.S. homeland.

For example, Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, who is the head of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), told reporters in May that extremist groups are gaining ground and ‘expanding their ambitions,’ meaning the threat to the U.S. homeland is increasing as these groups gain ‘capability and capacity’ in the Sahel region.

‘It is the flashpoint of prolonged conflict and growing instability. It is the epicenter of terrorism on the globe,’ Langley said. 

Meanwhile, Trump announced Thursday that he directed the strikes in northwest Nigeria, after previously warning he would take action following recent attacks in the region against Christians.

‘I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,’ Trump said on Thursday in a post on Truth Social. ‘The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.’

It’s unclear how many people were killed in the attacks, although Trump said that the strikes were ‘deadly.’ AFRICOM said Thursday that its initial assessment is ‘multiple’ ISIS terrorists were killed in the attack. 

Christians and Christian institutions have faced a series of attacks in Nigeria. In November, two people were killed and dozens were kidnapped after gunmen raided the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State. Those who were abducted were liberated almost a week later.

Also in November, armed attackers stormed St. Mary’s School in Niger State, an event that resulted in the kidnapping of more than 300 students and staff. Although school officials later said roughly 50 students were able to break free, more than 250 students and 21 teachers are still in captivity.

The Trump administration moved to designate Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ in November. Nigeria has pushed back against the U.S. government’s designation. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago on Monday afternoon, with talks expected to focus on renewed tensions with Iran and the possibility of advancing to additional stages of the Gaza peace plan.

Before meeting with the president, Netanyahu is slated to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday morning.

Dr. Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital that President Trump has likely been pressuring Netanyahu since the peace plan’s implementation, noting that the American leader has little patience for Middle Eastern timelines, which he said are far longer than those in the U.S. and the real estate sector.

‘The problem is that Hamas knows all it has to do is survive and continue controlling the western part of Gaza while attacking Israel, as it has been doing from Gaza’s tunnel network, in order to ratchet up tensions between Israel and the U.S.,’ Diker said.

Netanyahu’s mission during the visit, he continued, will be first to lay out Israel’s threat assessment regarding Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas as extremely serious, and to impress upon the president that Tehran is rebuilding its military capabilities. He is also likely to seek to persuade Trump to allow Israel to take the steps it deems necessary to defeat Hamas.

Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid told Fox News Digital that ‘We [Israel] should be coordinating with President Trump on all the major fronts, but the top priority has to be the management of stage two in Gaza.’

Lapid added, ‘Israel needs to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the removal of the threat from Gaza, and that requires the implementation of President Trump’s plan.’

During the meeting, Netanyahu will reportedly present Trump with plans for a potential strike on Iran. Israel has warned Washington that a recent Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps missile drill could be masking preparations for an attack, a concern that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conveyed to U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper during recent meetings in Tel Aviv.

In a Saturday interview reported by the country’s media, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country is engaged in what he described as a ‘total war‘ with the U.S., Israel and Europe. The Times of Israel reported him saying, ‘In my opinion, we are at total war with the United States, Israel and Europe,’ Pezeshkian said. ‘They want to bring our country to its knees.’

Axios reported that U.S. intelligence assesses there is no immediate threat, while Israeli defense officials say forces remain on heightened alert.

According to Dr. Meir Javedanfar, a lecturer on Iran and the Middle East at Reichman University, Netanyahu’s plan is expected to call for strikes on Iran’s missile program.

‘Israel will probably hope that such a wide-scale attack would further undermine the legitimacy of Iran’s supreme leader, thereby creating greater political instability within the country. This is especially true given that after the recent war with Israel, Iran’s economy has deteriorated significantly, and the regime is not taking the necessary steps to address these problems,’ he said.

Israeli Minister for Settlement and National Missions Orit Strook stressed the importance of completing full Gaza demilitarization before moving forward with further stages of the plan.

She referenced Trump’s address to the Israeli Knesset in October, noting that he highlighted his role in building international support for Gaza’s demilitarization and securing a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the full dismantling of weapons, tunnels and terror infrastructure.

‘Hamas wakes up every day with a mission to hurt us,’ Strook told Fox News Digital. ‘The IDF will not withdraw even one meter, and no rehabilitation framework will be established until full demilitarization is completed.

‘If, God forbid, the opposite happens in the meeting, it will be a failure of the peace plan, a failure for Trump himself — who would be settling for fake demilitarization— and a failure for us. We will not be able to say that we won this war if Hamas remains armed,’ she added.

Trump is nevertheless expected to soon unveil the second stage of his Gaza framework, despite Hamas’s failure to return the remains of Israel Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, who was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, and whose body was taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists.

Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Sunday called for President Trump to only focus on America’s needs as the president meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president has been heavily involved in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts since returning to the White House.

Trump met with Zelenskyy on Sunday at Mar-a-Lago to discuss a peace plan aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war that began with an invasion by Moscow in February 2022.

Netanyahu arrived in Florida on Sunday ahead of their scheduled meeting on Monday at Trump’s estate to address Israel’s conflicts in the Middle East. It will be the sixth meeting of the year between the two leaders.

Greene, responding to Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy and Netanyahu, said that the Trump administration should address the needs of Americans rather than becoming further involved in global conflicts.

‘Zelensky today. Netanyahu tomorrow,’ she wrote on X.

‘Can we just do America?’ the congresswoman continued.

The congresswoman has been a vocal critic of supplying U.S. military aid to foreign countries amid the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.

She has also referred to Zelenskyy as ‘a dictator who canceled elections’ and labeled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a genocide and humanitarian crisis.

This comes after Taylor Greene, who is set to resign from the House in January, had a public spat with Trump over the past few months as Trump took issue with the Georgia Republican’s push to release documents related to the investigations into deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump had withdrawn his endorsement of Greene and called her a ‘traitor’ over the public feud.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that peace talks to end the war in Ukraine are close to completion after a meeting in Florida with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with both leaders citing major progress on a 20-point plan while acknowledging unresolved disputes over territory, ceasefire terms and Ukrainian approval.

Trump and Zelenskyy spoke to reporters following their meeting at Mar-a-Lago, describing weeks of negotiations involving U.S., Ukrainian, European Union and NATO officials that have moved a potential peace framework close to the finish line, though several high-stakes issues remain unresolved.

Trump said negotiations have intensified over the past month and suggested discussions are far more advanced than at any previous point in the war, while cautioning that final agreements depend on resolving a small number of difficult questions.

‘We could be very close,’ Trump said. ‘There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues. But I think we’re doing very well. We made a lot of progress today, but really, we’ve made it over the last month. This is not a one-day process. It’s very complicated stuff.’

Zelenskyy echoed that assessment, confirming that negotiators have largely agreed on the framework of a deal and crediting sustained diplomacy across multiple international meetings leading up to the Florida talks.

He said negotiations have taken place over several weeks in cities including Geneva, Miami, Berlin and at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, with American and Ukrainian teams working toward a shared peace framework.

‘We discussed all the aspects of the peace framework, which includes – and we have great achievements – a 20-point peace plan, 90% agreed,’ Zelenskyy said.

Both leaders said European and NATO officials were closely involved in the process, with a joint call held following the meeting that included senior leaders from across the continent and international institutions.

Zelenskyy said teams are expected to meet again in the coming weeks to finalize remaining issues and that Trump has agreed to potentially host further talks in Washington with European leaders and a Ukrainian delegation.

Despite the progress, territory – particularly the status of Donbas – remains one of the most difficult unresolved issues, with Trump and Zelenskyy acknowledging differing positions between Ukraine and Russia.

Trump suggested that time could be a critical factor in negotiations, warning that delays could result in further territorial losses as fighting continues.

‘Some of that land has been taken,’ Trump said. ‘Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months. Are you better off making a deal now?’

Zelenskyy stressed that any final agreement would need to comply with Ukrainian law and reflect the will of the Ukrainian people, potentially requiring parliamentary approval or a national referendum.

‘Our society, too, has to choose and decide who has to vote, because it’s their land – the land not of one person,’ Zelenskyy said. ‘It’s the land of our nation for a lot of generations.’

Trump said polling shows strong public support for ending the war and reiterated his desire to bring the conflict to a close, citing the scale of casualties on both sides.

‘We want to see it ended,’ Trump said. ‘I want it ended because I don’t want to see so many people dying. We’re losing massive numbers of people – the biggest by far since World War II.’

FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency has surged additional personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota as part of an ongoing effort to ‘dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.’

Patel said Sunday that the bureau moved resources into the state before recent online attention intensified, pointing to the Feeding Our Future investigation, which uncovered a $250 million scheme that siphoned federal food aid intended for children during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The case has already resulted in 78 indictments and 57 convictions, with prosecutors also charging defendants in a separate plot to bribe a juror with $120,000 in cash, Patel said, adding that the investigation remains ongoing.

‘The FBI believes this is just the tip of a very large iceberg. We will continue to follow the money and protect children, and this investigation very much remains ongoing,’ he wrote on X. ‘Furthermore, many are also being referred to immigrations officials for possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings where eligible.’

Patel’s announcement comes in the wake of a viral video posted on social media Friday by independent journalist Nick Shirley that highlighted alleged fraud involving Minnesota childcare and learning centers. 

In the video, many of the facilities appeared non-operational despite allegedly receiving millions of dollars in government aid.

Republican lawmakers, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., as well as Vice President JD Vance, have responded to the viral video, with Emmer accusing Gov. Tim Walz of sitting ‘idly by while billions were stolen from hardworking Minnesotans.’

Shirley’s video also follows a group of Minnesota state staff members who accused Walz in November of failing to act on widespread fraud warnings and retaliating against whistleblowers.

An X account calling itself Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary, which says it consists of more than 480 Minnesota state staff members, wrote that Walz is ‘100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota.’

‘We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports,’ the group claimed. ‘In addition to retaliating against whistleblower[s], Tim Walz disempowered the Office of the Legislative Auditor, allowing agencies to disregard their audit findings and guidance.’

Walz addressed the fraud at a press conference in late November, saying it ‘undermines trust in government,’ and ‘undermines programs that are absolutely critical in improving quality of life.’

‘If you’re committing fraud, no matter where you come from, what you look like, what you believe, you are going to go to jail,’ he added.

The New York Times reported that what initially appeared to many Minnesotans as an isolated case of pandemic-era fraud has broadened into a much wider concern for state and federal officials.

The Times reported that over the past five years, according to law enforcement authorities, several fraud schemes proliferated in parts of Minnesota’s Somali community. A number of individuals allegedly created companies that billed state agencies for millions of dollars’ worth of social services that were never delivered.

Generally speaking, nobody outside of Washington, D.C., brunch spots cares very much what happens at think tanks. But recent upheavals at the Heritage Foundation are not only making news, they are potentially framing what the Republican Party will look like after President Trump leaves office.

The current kerfuffle at Heritage, the nation’s leading conservative think tank, began on Oct. 30, when its president, Kevin Roberts, gave a speech defending Tucker Carlson for interviewing a snarky young Holocaust denier.

‘The Heritage Foundation didn’t become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people or policing the consciences of Christians, and we won’t start doing that now,’ Roberts said.

A pitter-patter of outraged resignations came almost immediately, even after Roberts apologized for his remarks, but last week, almost two months later, nearly an entire division of Heritage’s legal and economic experts jumped ship to former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom (AAF).

The significant question in all of this is whether Roberts playing footsie with antisemites is the real or only reason why so many top experts joined the exodus to Pence’s outfit, and there is some reason to be dubious.

Take for example Trump’s zealous use of tariffs in international trade. This kind of protectionism is constitutionally anathema to exactly the type of conservative economist who prowled the halls of Heritage, but the think tank itself was standing by the president’s policies.

Add to this that Heritage seems to be leaning heavily into Vice President JD VanceJD Vance’s 2028 presidential ambitions, in fact Roberts’ original video may have been intended for the veep who is close with Carlson and has made fighting globalism and saving small industrial towns the centerpiece of his national message.

The problem is that most of the longtime Heritage economists really like globalism and think saving ‘Nowhere, Ohio’ from oblivion is a pipe dream. Now, they truly have no seat at the table, either at Heritage or in the Trump administration.

Such tensions also exist in foreign policy and immigration, and a cynic might suggest that the Heritage bleedout is just another example of conservatives with strong ideological differences from Trump deciding it’s no longer working to cozy up to him, and taking whatever current moral outrage is available as an offramp.

This is exactly what Pence did after the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, leading him to found AAF, which, by the way, is as anti-tariffs as the day is long.

In this fight for the soul of the Republican Party and conservative movement, both Heritage and AAF are redefining what a think tank is and what it does, in important ways.

Traditionally, wealthy donors would give money to guys with good hair to get elected and also fund bald guys at think tanks, who were rarely seen or heard from, to produce the actual policy. But voters have seen through this, leading the think tanks to more direct outreach to the public.

In the 2024 election, Heritage’s ‘Project 2025’ was a headline story for months, something completely unprecedented in the history of presidential politics for a think tank. Today, through moves such as hiring Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice, Heritage is committing to more populism and activism and less back-room algebra.

AAF is starting to play this game too. The think tank put out a satirical X post comparing the flood of Heritage staffers coming their way to a college football team dominating in the transfer portal, another hint that more than moral outrage was at play here.

The headwind that AAF is likely to run into with conservative voters in their anti-populism efforts is that populism is popular, and globalism, along with many other core tenets of the pre-Trump GOP, isn’t.

The best chance for AAF, and it’s not a bad one, is to focus on lowering prices by lowering tariff. But a conservative think tank yelling that prices are too high while the GOP holds the White House and Congress is a nightmare for Republican midterm hopes.

The more vital question is what American voters want more, deeper discounts on foreign goods from China or functional communities where they can raise their families? For AAF to succeed it must address the latter, not just the former.

In Vance’s, and increasingly Heritage’s, vision of America, our small industrial towns see a revival through tariffs and foreign investment. In AAF’s vision, those towns may continue to wither, but Americans are free to move to where the jobs and abundance are.

Neither proponents of these visions can guarantee the success of their proposed programs, but the ‘save our towns’ side is currently in power and ascending. If AAF wants to change that, it needs more than moral outrage. It needs to convince Americans that globalism really wasn’t so bad, and that it is time to return to it.