December 1, 2025 • 12 mins
In this episode, Jon Decker breaks down the latest shifts in U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration—from new momentum in Ukraine peace negotiations to the high-stakes decision to shut down Venezuelan airspace. Decker also examines growing scrutiny of Pentagon military operations and the fallout from a National Guard shooting incident. With global tensions rising and domestic security under pressure, Decker unpacks the real-world implications shaping America’s strategic future.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Monday, December First,
I'm John Decker. Another round of peace talks takes place
between US and Ukrainian officials, as President Trump says progress
has been made aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
God love, well up people from being killed. Listen it
ut super us. I'd like to see when you say
a lot of souls, a lot of people to be killed.
Last month, twenty seven thousand.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
People killed, and that ridiculous would that should have never happened,
would have never happened.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
The President says the airspace around Venezuela is now closed,
and is asked whether that means US military action against
Venezuela is imminent too. And the administration is providing further
information about the suspect accused of shooting two National Guard
members in Washington last week. But we begin this Monday
(00:59):
with the latest on US efforts to end the war
in Ukraine. It was indeed a holiday weekend, but that
did not mean that diplomacy was taking arrest. Senior Trump
administration officials met with Ukrainian negotiators in South Florida on Sunday.
That was to continue peace talks aimed at ending the
(01:20):
war in Ukraine. The talks in Hallandale, Florida, covered a
timetable for elections in Ukraine, the possibility of landswaps between
Russia and Ukraine, and other issues that remain unresolved between
the White House and Ukraine. Secretary of State Mark Arubio
(01:41):
took part in those talks. He was joined by Trump's
Special envoy Steve Wikoff and the President's son in law,
Jared Kushner. Those US officials met with a Ukrainian delegation
that was led by the Secretary of the National Security
and Defense Council of Ukraine. Secretary of State Rubio told
(02:02):
reporters as the meeting began that the talks were aimed
at securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine's
sovereign and independent and with an opportunity, he said, for
real prosperity. On the flight back from Florida, where President
Trump spent the Thanksgiving holiday, the president said he believes
(02:22):
that both Ukraine and Russia have this same goal in mind.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I think Russia would like to see it, and I
think I know Ukraine would like to see that.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Now on social media, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski praised the
ongoing negotiations. He wrote on X the American side is
demonstrating a constructive approach, and in the coming days it's
feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to
bring the war to a dignified end. He went on
to write, the Ukrainian delegation has the necessary directives, and
(02:54):
I expect the guys to work in accordance with clear
Ukrainian priorities. At a newscom friends on Thursday, meanwhile, Russian
President Vladimir Putin was clear in terms of what his
expectations are regarding these ongoing negotiations. He said, when Ukrainian
troops leave the territories they hold, then the fighting will stop,
(03:17):
and he went on to say that if they don't,
then we'll achieve that through military means. On that flight
back on Air Force One, reporters asked if President Trump
has a deadline for reaching a piece deal to end
the war in Ukraine a deadline.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I have a deadline where the war is over, and
hopefully the war's going to be over. Twenty seven thousand
people count last week, twenty seven thousand over the last
three or four weeks twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Wars.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
In this week, the focus will be on Russia and
it will be on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Steve Wikoff
and Jared Kushner planned to leave for Russia on Monday
to contain negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the war
in Ukraine. The President was focused on other foreign policy
(04:07):
issues over the weekend. The President on Saturday said that
the airspace surrounding Venezuela should be considered closed. The President
posted on his truth social social media Saturday morning to
all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers, please consider
the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in
(04:32):
its entirety. That social media post followed a phone call
reportedly between President Trump and Venezuelan's strongman Nicholas Maduro last week.
The President explained why he believes Venezuela's airspace should be
closed right now, because.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
We consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly got you,
They said, millions of people really in probably in a
number an.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Excess of that.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
We should be in our country for jams, gangs, drug dealers,
all of the people that came into countries in our country.
Those here a lot of problems with certain.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
As for that call with Nicholas Maduro, which was reported
first by The New York Times, the President was asked
whether he indeed spoke with Maduro.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
When to Convento at the answers, Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Now, the US cannot close another countries airspace. But what
the FAA can do is it can ban American airlines
from flying to certain countries. US carriers have not been
flying to Venezuela for some time. One reason for the
continued focus on Venezuela is that since September, the US
has carried out more than twenty strikes against boats that
(05:46):
the US says are carrying drugs. Those strikes have so
far killed more than eighty people. Now. Over the weekend,
Republican led committees in the House and the Senate said
they will increase their scrutiny of the Pentagon after a
report in The Washington Post revealed that Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill all crew members
(06:10):
aboard one of those drug vessels in the Caribbean several
weeks ago. Late Friday, Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senator
Jack Reid, a Democrat from Rhode Island, issued a joint
statement saying that the Committee is aware of recent news
reports and the Department of Defense's initial response regarding alleged
(06:35):
follow on strikes unsuspected narcotics vessels. The Committee, they said,
has directed inquiries to the Defense Department, and we will
be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to
these circumstances. A similar bipartisan joint letter was put out
over the weekend by the House Armed Services Committee. Now
(06:58):
on that flight back to Washington, d C. From Florida,
the President was asked about this controversy surrounding Secretary of
War Pete hegsay, do.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
You know what he thinks about it? He said, but
he said he did not say.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
That, and I believe.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
The two men the second fight. He said he didn't
do it. He said, he never said what you would
that if he did. He said he didn't do it,
So I have to make that decision.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
In a follow up question, the President was asked if
he'd be okay if there was indeed a second strike
on that drug boat.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I don't know who that happened, and Pete said he
did not what. He didn't even know what people were
talking about. So we'll look at we'll look into it.
But no, I wouldn't have wanted a second strike. The
first strike was very lethal.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
It was fine, and if there were two people around,
but Pete said, that didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I have great confidence you.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Think now the Trump administration has justified these attacks on
a ledge to drug boats by arguing that the US
is in what it calls a non international arm conflict
with traffickers. And the President was asked on Air Force
One on Sunday whether there would be any repercussions if
a second lethal strike were indeed aimed at that alleged
(08:19):
drug boat.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I don't know what.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I'd better find out about it, but me said, he
did not order the death of this.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Now Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has put out his
own social media post. He wrote, our current operations in
the Caribbean are lawful under both US and international law,
with all actions in compliance with the law of armed
conflict and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers
(08:45):
up and down the chain of command. The President was
asked if he has any qualms at all about these
strikes on alleged drug boats.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Because you could see the boats. You can see the
drugs of the boats, and each boat is responsible for.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Killing twenty five thousand Americans. So they do an amazing gun.
I said, you know, we're getting here. You can just
look at the numbers.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
The amount of drugs coming into our country by sea
is infinite ICI compared to one of west sister few months.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
It's worth noting that these joint statements issued by the
relevant heads of the House and Senate Armed Services committees
are a rarity. Generally, Republicans, who control the House and
control the Senate have shown considerable deference to the Trump
administration on military issues. Finally, some additional information over the
(09:38):
weekend concerning that individual accused of shooting two National Guard
members near the White House last Wednesday. US officials say
that suspect was, in their words, radicalized in the US
after leaving Afghanistan. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in an interview
on Fox News's Fox News Son was asked about reports
(10:01):
that this suspect, Ramanala Lachenwaal, was vetted by the CIA
and the National counter Terrorism Center before he entered the
US in twenty twenty one, and in response to that question,
she said, we know that this shooter who shot our
National guardsmen in DC the day before Thanksgiving, he was radicalized,
(10:24):
and then later in an interview on NBC News's Meet
the Press, Christino, the Secretary of Homeland Security, also indicated
that this suspect was radicalized after arriving in the US. Now,
in response to Wednesday's shooting from last week, the Trump
administration has halted all asylum decisions following that shooting of
(10:49):
those two National Guard soldiers. The Director of the US
Citizenship and Immigration Services said that the pause would be
in place until, in his words, we can assure that
every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.
That pause came just hours after President Trump on social
(11:12):
media pledged to permanently pause migration from what he called
all third world countries, and the President, on the flight
back from Palm Beach, Florida, explained his decision to pause
asylum claims from individuals from those nineteen countries.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Think they're all there more often in many cases, they
are third grot.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
They're not good countries. They're very private contests. They contries said,
don't do a good job.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
They countries said, don't register from the standpoint of success,
and we frankly don't.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Need they have people coming into our country telling us
what to do.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Earlier this year, a travel band was imposed on nationals
primarily from eleven African and Asian nations, including Afghanistan. As
for the President's schedule for Monday, just one item on
his schedule. At four pm in the Oval Office, the
President will sign congressional bills. That event right now is
(12:10):
listed as closed press. That's the White House briefing room
for Monday, December first. I'm John Decker.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Have a good room.
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Monday, December First,
I'm John Decker. Another round of peace talks takes place
between US and Ukrainian officials, as President Trump says progress
has been made aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
God love, well up people from being killed. Listen it
ut super us. I'd like to see when you say
a lot of souls, a lot of people to be killed.
Last month, twenty seven thousand.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
People killed, and that ridiculous would that should have never happened,
would have never happened.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
The President says the airspace around Venezuela is now closed,
and is asked whether that means US military action against
Venezuela is imminent too. And the administration is providing further
information about the suspect accused of shooting two National Guard
members in Washington last week. But we begin this Monday
(00:59):
with the latest on US efforts to end the war
in Ukraine. It was indeed a holiday weekend, but that
did not mean that diplomacy was taking arrest. Senior Trump
administration officials met with Ukrainian negotiators in South Florida on Sunday.
That was to continue peace talks aimed at ending the
(01:20):
war in Ukraine. The talks in Hallandale, Florida, covered a
timetable for elections in Ukraine, the possibility of landswaps between
Russia and Ukraine, and other issues that remain unresolved between
the White House and Ukraine. Secretary of State Mark Arubio
(01:41):
took part in those talks. He was joined by Trump's
Special envoy Steve Wikoff and the President's son in law,
Jared Kushner. Those US officials met with a Ukrainian delegation
that was led by the Secretary of the National Security
and Defense Council of Ukraine. Secretary of State Rubio told
(02:02):
reporters as the meeting began that the talks were aimed
at securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine's
sovereign and independent and with an opportunity, he said, for
real prosperity. On the flight back from Florida, where President
Trump spent the Thanksgiving holiday, the president said he believes
(02:22):
that both Ukraine and Russia have this same goal in mind.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I think Russia would like to see it, and I
think I know Ukraine would like to see that.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Now on social media, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenski praised the
ongoing negotiations. He wrote on X the American side is
demonstrating a constructive approach, and in the coming days it's
feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to
bring the war to a dignified end. He went on
to write, the Ukrainian delegation has the necessary directives, and
(02:54):
I expect the guys to work in accordance with clear
Ukrainian priorities. At a newscom friends on Thursday, meanwhile, Russian
President Vladimir Putin was clear in terms of what his
expectations are regarding these ongoing negotiations. He said, when Ukrainian
troops leave the territories they hold, then the fighting will stop,
(03:17):
and he went on to say that if they don't,
then we'll achieve that through military means. On that flight
back on Air Force One, reporters asked if President Trump
has a deadline for reaching a piece deal to end
the war in Ukraine a deadline.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I have a deadline where the war is over, and
hopefully the war's going to be over. Twenty seven thousand
people count last week, twenty seven thousand over the last
three or four weeks twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Wars.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
In this week, the focus will be on Russia and
it will be on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Steve Wikoff
and Jared Kushner planned to leave for Russia on Monday
to contain negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the war
in Ukraine. The President was focused on other foreign policy
(04:07):
issues over the weekend. The President on Saturday said that
the airspace surrounding Venezuela should be considered closed. The President
posted on his truth social social media Saturday morning to
all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human traffickers, please consider
the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in
(04:32):
its entirety. That social media post followed a phone call
reportedly between President Trump and Venezuelan's strongman Nicholas Maduro last week.
The President explained why he believes Venezuela's airspace should be
closed right now, because.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
We consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly got you,
They said, millions of people really in probably in a
number an.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Excess of that.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
We should be in our country for jams, gangs, drug dealers,
all of the people that came into countries in our country.
Those here a lot of problems with certain.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
As for that call with Nicholas Maduro, which was reported
first by The New York Times, the President was asked
whether he indeed spoke with Maduro.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
When to Convento at the answers, Yes.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Now, the US cannot close another countries airspace. But what
the FAA can do is it can ban American airlines
from flying to certain countries. US carriers have not been
flying to Venezuela for some time. One reason for the
continued focus on Venezuela is that since September, the US
has carried out more than twenty strikes against boats that
(05:46):
the US says are carrying drugs. Those strikes have so
far killed more than eighty people. Now. Over the weekend,
Republican led committees in the House and the Senate said
they will increase their scrutiny of the Pentagon after a
report in The Washington Post revealed that Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill all crew members
(06:10):
aboard one of those drug vessels in the Caribbean several
weeks ago. Late Friday, Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senator
Jack Reid, a Democrat from Rhode Island, issued a joint
statement saying that the Committee is aware of recent news
reports and the Department of Defense's initial response regarding alleged
(06:35):
follow on strikes unsuspected narcotics vessels. The Committee, they said,
has directed inquiries to the Defense Department, and we will
be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to
these circumstances. A similar bipartisan joint letter was put out
over the weekend by the House Armed Services Committee. Now
(06:58):
on that flight back to Washington, d C. From Florida,
the President was asked about this controversy surrounding Secretary of
War Pete hegsay, do.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
You know what he thinks about it? He said, but
he said he did not say.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
That, and I believe.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
The two men the second fight. He said he didn't
do it. He said, he never said what you would
that if he did. He said he didn't do it,
So I have to make that decision.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
In a follow up question, the President was asked if
he'd be okay if there was indeed a second strike
on that drug boat.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
I don't know who that happened, and Pete said he
did not what. He didn't even know what people were
talking about. So we'll look at we'll look into it.
But no, I wouldn't have wanted a second strike. The
first strike was very lethal.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
It was fine, and if there were two people around,
but Pete said, that didn't happen.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I have great confidence you.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Think now the Trump administration has justified these attacks on
a ledge to drug boats by arguing that the US
is in what it calls a non international arm conflict
with traffickers. And the President was asked on Air Force
One on Sunday whether there would be any repercussions if
a second lethal strike were indeed aimed at that alleged
(08:19):
drug boat.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
I don't know what.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
I'd better find out about it, but me said, he
did not order the death of this.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Now Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has put out his
own social media post. He wrote, our current operations in
the Caribbean are lawful under both US and international law,
with all actions in compliance with the law of armed
conflict and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers
(08:45):
up and down the chain of command. The President was
asked if he has any qualms at all about these
strikes on alleged drug boats.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Because you could see the boats. You can see the
drugs of the boats, and each boat is responsible for.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Killing twenty five thousand Americans. So they do an amazing gun.
I said, you know, we're getting here. You can just
look at the numbers.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
The amount of drugs coming into our country by sea
is infinite ICI compared to one of west sister few months.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
It's worth noting that these joint statements issued by the
relevant heads of the House and Senate Armed Services committees
are a rarity. Generally, Republicans, who control the House and
control the Senate have shown considerable deference to the Trump
administration on military issues. Finally, some additional information over the
(09:38):
weekend concerning that individual accused of shooting two National Guard
members near the White House last Wednesday. US officials say
that suspect was, in their words, radicalized in the US
after leaving Afghanistan. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in an interview
on Fox News's Fox News Son was asked about reports
(10:01):
that this suspect, Ramanala Lachenwaal, was vetted by the CIA
and the National counter Terrorism Center before he entered the
US in twenty twenty one, and in response to that question,
she said, we know that this shooter who shot our
National guardsmen in DC the day before Thanksgiving, he was radicalized,
(10:24):
and then later in an interview on NBC News's Meet
the Press, Christino, the Secretary of Homeland Security, also indicated
that this suspect was radicalized after arriving in the US. Now,
in response to Wednesday's shooting from last week, the Trump
administration has halted all asylum decisions following that shooting of
(10:49):
those two National Guard soldiers. The Director of the US
Citizenship and Immigration Services said that the pause would be
in place until, in his words, we can assure that
every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.
That pause came just hours after President Trump on social
(11:12):
media pledged to permanently pause migration from what he called
all third world countries, and the President, on the flight
back from Palm Beach, Florida, explained his decision to pause
asylum claims from individuals from those nineteen countries.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Think they're all there more often in many cases, they
are third grot.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
They're not good countries. They're very private contests. They contries said,
don't do a good job.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
They countries said, don't register from the standpoint of success,
and we frankly don't.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Need they have people coming into our country telling us
what to do.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Earlier this year, a travel band was imposed on nationals
primarily from eleven African and Asian nations, including Afghanistan. As
for the President's schedule for Monday, just one item on
his schedule. At four pm in the Oval Office, the
President will sign congressional bills. That event right now is
(12:10):
listed as closed press. That's the White House briefing room
for Monday, December first. I'm John Decker.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Have a good room.
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