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Happy 2026. So far so good, right?
Welcome to the flood of new folks who signed up in recent days. Happy to have you in the News Not Noise community — you picked quite a week to join.
I had planned to start the year with a whole newsletter of News That Doesn’t Suck, stories of progress, breakthroughs and cause for optimism. Then the United States invaded Venezuela.
So instead, I’m happy to bring you a conversation with Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer — two people who, until very recently, were responsible for American foreign policy. They co-authored this piece published today, The Danger of Trump’s Flamboyant Violence. Together we walk through what just happened in Caracas, what it signals about American power, and whether this is the moment the post–World War II order begins to crumble.
We discuss why the administration’s claim that the Venezuela operation was a “law enforcement action” doesn’t hold up — and what it actually was: a test case for a new Trump doctrine that says the U.S. can remove a leader and run the country from offshore “by joystick” to secure American companies access to strategic resources. We also discuss how flawlessly the military executed the operation — and the danger that the administration is learning exactly the wrong lesson from pulling it off.
Sullivan and Finer get into Trump’s new National Security Strategy — which we covered here. It revives the century-old Monroe Doctrine, the idea that the U.S. must dominate the Western Hemisphere and has the right to take what it wants. Trump, naturally, calls it the “Donroe Doctrine.“ He has already named the countries that may be next: Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Panama. I ask Sullivan and Finer how seriously to take those threats. They no longer roll their eyes.
Then there’s the rest of the world. A U.S. move on Greenland — Danish territory, a NATO ally — could, Sullivan argues, spell the end of the alliance. He says Chinese social media is already alive with a question that should make Taiwan nervous (watch the interview for specifics). Sullivan and Finer lay out what it means when the U.S. is no longer seen as a force for stability but as just another predator — operating, as Sullivan puts it, in a “law of the jungle” alongside Russia and China. That jungle, he reminds us, is what produced two world wars in the last century.
This is not a light conversation. But understanding how we got here — and where this could go — beats the alternative.
On a personal note, my power went out. (The universe is not subtle.) I scrambled to a friend’s house to make this happen so forgive the lighting on this one.
For context, Jake Sullivan served as National Security Advisor to President Biden and as a senior advisor to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Jon Finer was Deputy National Security Advisor to President Biden and Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning for former Secretary of State John Kerry.
We’ll be back with news headlines next week, assuming the world cooperates. (The world has not been cooperating.) And we still owe you that News That Doesn’t Suck. Stay tuned.
I want to say a special hello to all the new folks who subscribed in recent days – welcome to the News Not Noise community. Look forward to making sense of our chaotic times together.
Finally, let’s end on a lighter note: What’s your intention for the new year? Mine is to take the steps I need to flourish. (Fewer military operations in the Western Hemisphere would help.) Drop yours in the comments.
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