Apr 25, 2025 | The weaponization of Tren de Aragua and "Vladimir, STOP!"

Hi everyone!

A new report from the FBI says that the Venezuelan government will likely use Tren de Aragua as a weapon against the United States in the coming months. These are the same gang members that the Trump administration is fighting to remove from the country via mass deportations, only to be stopped by the Supreme Court in cases brought by the ACLU.

Officials with the Venezuelan government, per the FBI, are likely using these gang members in the US as proxies for their efforts to destabilize nations in the Americas, the biggest of those being the US. Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia are also on that list. These gang members could be activated to threaten and extort other Venezuelans who are in the US, specifically those who have been critical of the Nicholas Maduro regime.

"These findings should shock Americans but not the law enforcement community," an official said. "They reflect the sentiments of numerous other intelligence assessments across multiple agencies."

That Trump official went on to say that "Nicholas Maduro is a Marxist dictator who hijacked a once-prosperous Venezuela and brought in nothing but total economic collapse and gang takeover. He crumbled Caracas, now overrun with drugs and violence, and wants to do the same across the United States by sending his most violent and dangerous criminals into our communities."

The Post Millennial reported on occurrences such as these happening in Utah, where a man who gained asylum in the US in 2023 watched his nephew shot by Tren de Aragua. After that shooting, the rest of his family was threatened by Tren de Aragua gang members. Despite his reporting that to police, some of those gang members were still on the street. These criminals have got to go.

Trump was super unhappy about Putin's bombing attack on Kyiv and posted a Truth Social saying "Vladimir, STOP!" As people were being pulled from the rubble of apartment buildings in the Ukrainian capital, Trump posted "I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and it's very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let's get the Peace Deal DONE!"

Trump has been dedicated to bringing this war to an end for a while, but at each turn, either one of the two leaders of the warring nations launched attacks or refused to engage. Zelensky wants to force the US to keep funding their defense against their neighboring aggressor, Putin wants to hold the land he's gained in the three years since the invasion. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and JD Vance both say if these talks don't work the US may just "move on." But just what that looks like is unclear.

I hosted Timcast's morning show on Thursday where I got into Ukraine, Tim Pool had a long-form interview with Sebastian Gorka, and then I dug into the weaponization of migration at the end. You can check it out here.