U.S. Air Force F-15E “Strike Eagle” multirole strike fighters and A-10C Thunderbolt II “Warthog” close air support aircraft, along with U.S. Army AH-64E “Apache” attack helicopters, launched from bases across the Middle East to take part in tonight’s large-scale retaliatory strikes against ISIS-affiliated targets in Syria.

On Tuesday, December 16, the U.S. Navy conducted the first-ever launch of a new one-way attack drone—modeled on Iran’s Shahed-136—from the flight deck of the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) while transiting the Arabian Sea. The drone, known as the Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS), was launched and operated by Task Force 59 under Task Force Scorpion Strike, a one-way attack drone unit recently deployed to the Middle East.

Footage appears to show ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles being launched from U.S. Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) during tonight’s large-scale retaliatory strikes on ISIS-affiliated targets in northern and central Syria.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle announced today that, less than a month after canceling the Constellation-class frigate program being built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, the Navy has chosen the U.S. Coast Guard’s Legend-class cutter as the foundation for a new class of frigates. The ships will be constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Huntington Ingalls Industries recently ended production of the Legend-class National Security Cutter for the U.S. Coast Guard after completing ten vessels. Due to significant ongoing delays and a substantial construction backlog at HII, the first frigate based on the NSC design is not expected to be completed until 2030 or later.

A Russian Orlan-10 surveillance drone has been found intact in the İzmit District of Kocaeli Province in northwestern Turkey, about 50 miles east of Istanbul and more than 350 miles from Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Russia, in what appears to be another significant violation of NATO and Turkish airspace.

US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker: Ukraine should also be prepared to fight in 2026.

Putin dismissed claims of a Russian attack on Europe as “nonsense,” saying such rhetoric is driven by internal political motives. He argued it is meant to mask years of economic and social policy failures, questioning what happened to Europe’s green agenda and when power plants would reopen. He described the situation as “mistake after mistake,” adding that leaders are now trying to shift responsibility onto “evil Russia.”

President Donald J. Trump has chosen to endorse Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, despite Gonzales’s support for gun control and his past vote as the only Texas Republican to oppose the Border Safety and Security Act of 2023, opting against backing Second Amendment activist and media personality Brandon Herrera.

Netanyahu and Trump secretly coordinated plans for a possible strike on Iran beginning in February 2025, while publicly emphasizing diplomacy as part of a deliberate effort to mislead Tehran. Officials said preparations continued under the assumption that “if talks fail, we are ready to act,” adding that reports of tensions between the U.S. and Israel were intentional. “It was good that this was the general perception,” one official said.

Jim O'Neill, U.S. HHS Deputy Secretary: "Men are men. Men can never become women. Women are women. Women can never become men." "Children are innocent and they need our protection."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance—alongside heroin and bath salts—to a Schedule III controlled substance, placing it in the same category as many prescription drugs such as ketamine. The move could potentially pave the way for future federal decriminalization or legalization by Congress and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

About two dozen unidentified, large, military-style drones flew in formation over Faßberg Air Base in northern Germany on December 16. The base hosts the main technical and logistical training center for helicopters used by both the German Air Force and the Army. Prior to Tuesday night’s incident, a similar swarm of roughly two dozen drones—believed to be the same ones—was seen circling the Celler-Immelmann Barracks for several hours last Friday. In both cases, no attempts were made to down the drones, as they were deemed not to pose an immediate threat and, according to the Bundeswehr, there was “nothing to spy on.”

Secretary Kennedy announced six decisive measures aimed at protecting children from chemical and surgical interventions related to gender transition. “So-called ‘gender-affirming care’ has caused lasting physical and psychological harm to vulnerable young people,” Kennedy said. “We are ending junk science driven by ideology rather than the well-being of children.”

Local media report that the private jet—a Cessna Citation II—that crashed earlier this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina was carrying NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, along with his wife and children. View quoted note →

Footage released today by Ukraine’s General Staff shows a series of drone strikes conducted on December 14 against the Russian Air Force’s 568th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment near Raivka in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. The operation was carried out by Ukraine’s 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, known as the “Black Forest” Brigade, and resulted in the destruction of two fully loaded launchers from an S-400 surface-to-air missile battery.

Reports now indicate that the private jet that crashed this morning at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina was a 1981 Cessna Citation II, tail number N257BW, owned by NASCAR driver Greg Biffle.

The Trump administration has begun sounding out U.S.-based oil companies—including Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, and Weatherford—about whether they would consider resuming operations in Venezuela if President Nicolás Maduro were removed from power. So far, the response has been a firm “no,” according to three people familiar with the discussions cited by POLITICO.

According to internal guidance issued by the Trump administration for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and obtained by The New York Times, USCIS field offices have been instructed to provide the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100 to 200 denaturalization cases per month in 2026. The directive comes as President Trump and other administration officials move to significantly intensify their immigration crackdown in the coming year, including efforts to revoke the citizenship of thousands of Americans.

The U.S. State Department announced tonight what it described as the largest arms package ever approved for Taiwan, valued at more than $11 billion. The move is expected to anger China. According to officials, the package is set to include: • The U.S. Armed Forces’ 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 tracked ammunition carrier 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 repair support for Harpoon anti-ship missiles • ALTIUS-600M and 700M loitering munition systems • Spare parts and repair support for AH-1W “SuperCobra” attack helicopters View quoted note →

Jesse Watters claimed that Brown University’s head of campus security was fired from a previous position for lacking the required credentials, and alleged that Brown’s president may have removed campus security cameras at the request of Palestinian activists. He also said that Providence’s City Council chief of staff was arrested while protesting at Trump Tower, and noted that the city’s police chief, who was born in Colombia, has a nephew who was involved in running one of the largest fentanyl trafficking rings on the East Coast.