Beltway Insider: Trump Israel/Palestine, Ukraine/Russia, Venezuelan Oil, Bondi Beach Massacre

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Saturday, 20 December 2025 18:20

Written by Janet Walker

While many of President Trump's limited victories in 2025 have been overshadowed by looming problems, plaguing the president for some time, a singular victory he can claim i bringing an end to the active Israeli-Palestine conflict.

The President's job approval rating, according to Gallup featured in The New York Times for the period ending December 21, 2025, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President remained constant with 36% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president remained constant at 60%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Israel Agrees to Peace Plan

President Trump's most visible victory in 2025 is negotiating an end to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, which began after the October 7, 2023 Hamas led attack on Israel. The 20 point peace plan, which has seemed to hold, began with the return of all hostages, alive and deceased.

More than 70,000 Palestinians were killed as a result of the invasion of the Gaza Strip, the majority of the victims, 70%, were women and children. As a result of the cease-fire, humanitarian aid has been able to reach the Gaza Strip, and while food insecurity remains a problem, the famine that plagued the region for the majority of 2025, has abated somewhat.

Peace between Israel and Palestine has always been a stone's throw from escalating into all-out war, and for now, the simmering peace that has prevailed seems to be holding. President's Trump 20-Point Peace plan also includes a rebuilding phase, and he has continued to gather support from regional partners to oversee the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip and to assist displaced Palestinians regain shelter, medical assistance, and some level of their lives.

Trump Targets Venezuelan Vessels

Understanding why President Trump has allowed himself to be drawn into a winless battle with the Venezuelan government, which portrays the president as a bully, may simply come down to the Venezuelan oil markets.

Despite all the images, and trumped up verbiage coming from the White House, presenting the facts allows for another opinion to be considered. The collapse of the Venezuelan oil markets has far reaching implications.

While President Trump would have his base believe that he is saving Americans from the horrors of drug smugglers. Unless his constituents have lived without access to media for the last fifty years, cartel's who smuggle drugs, recognize a percentage of their shipments will be seized. As Trump has become the extremely vocal regarding his efforts to use drone technology to eradicate these vessels, the realities are they are most likely those ships are part of the loss expectation, designed by the cartels for capture, seizure, or termination.

Mr. Trump has also used two terms, interchangeably, "Narco-Terrorists." Individually terrorist means a someone who uses or sanctions or believe in violence to advance an ideological or religious belief. Narco, in slang, is a political boss who has links to illegal drug businesses or cartels. Narco-terrorists, then mean individuals using violence to further their ideology. Only that definition is in correct. Narcos simply meet the staggering demand for illicit drugs globally.

The use of this rhetoric is intended in enflame the American people, who see illicit drugs as a scourge on the land, and they are, and yet, the destructive of a dozen ships doesn't even put a dent in the billion dollar global drug enterprise.

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Venezuela's Rich Oil Deposits

So, why would the president step into a fight he has no chance of winning, even politically?

The only reasonable explanation is in hopes of collapsing the Venezuelan oil market. The next question would be who would benefit if the Venezuelan oil market collapsed? Currently, Venezuelan pumps 900,000 barrels of oil daily, and the nation has the richest oil deposit in the world and produces only 1 percent.

If the Venezuelan oil market collapse it would cause a rapid domino effect across the entire Maduro government, as oil exports are 90% of the nation's economy, which would set the stage for a military or political coup and having a new government, loyal or aligned to the United States or an ally, in place creates the opportunity for stricter controls on oil export.

As China is the primary importer of Venezuelan oil, China would not benefit if the market collapsed. However, the United State would benefit, and to some degree even Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would benefit, as the collapse would effect the global price of oil, meaning every oil producing nation would see a jump in per barrel price.

Why Russia Would Benefit

While it may seem unlikely that the president would engage in any manipulation of the global market to assist Putin. The fact remains, Russia is currently involved in a complex legal oil arbitrage scheme, buying the oil for a lower price to resell at a higher price.

Russia provides military and economic support to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime in exchange for discounted Venezuelan heavy crude and then resells the crude on the black market to countries like India and China at a significant profit.

A controlled or partial collapse that increases global prices while allowing this specific scheme to continue could be highly profitable.

Why The U.S. Would Benefit

Russia is not the only nation who would benefit. The United States, under certain conditions, could greatly benefit as currently Chevron, under a special act, remains the only American company still active in the region. U.S. off shore drillers, who source the heavy crude that Venezuela produces would also benefit, making it possible to circumvent other nations with strongholds on dependent nations.

"Should global demand continue to grow through midcentury, securing new production outside the Middle East and Russia will become more strategically important, said Francisco J. Monaldi, who leads the Latin America energy program at Rice University in Houston. "The U.S. would love to have an alternative source of supply in those scenarios," Dr. Monaldi said. Venezuelan oil is especially attractive to U.S. refiners [. . .] [and] it takes relatively little time to ship the oil to the Gulf Coast, where facilities are configured to process a mixture of cheaper, heavier oil and more expensive light oil," The New York Times reported.

While the Trump Administration would have the public believe that his efforts are just, in reality there is always an underlying financial game in play, and one that will ultimately benefit him, his family, his GOP partners, global allies, and his constituents.

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Ukraine, Russia Stalemate

Even as President Trump had been successful in his efforts to bring about a cease-fire and subsequently a peace-plan with hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his efforts to end the Ukraine-Russian War have been rebuffed, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, determined to regain immediately, Ukrainian territory.

"In further disregard for peace, Putin went on to claim that his country was acquiring weapons unmatched by any other country. He also criticized European leaders, whom he referred to as "piglets," accusing them of aligning with former U.S. President Joe Biden — whom he blames for "starting" the war — in hopes of bringing about Russia's collapse," Yahoo! News reported.

Even as negotiations from both sides continue to pursue peace, Putin's scaling of air assaults has resulted in Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's effort to further gain assurances from European Union members on assistance to continue to fight against the continual violation of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty.

As Zelensky continues to advance a cease fire, he has also been meeting with European Leaders to ensure the financial safety of his nation, post war. The autonomy of Ukraine echoed across Ukraine's European partners, as Zelensky meet with NATO and EU leadership to ensure their commitment to a free Ukraine.

EU Council President António Costa said in a post on social media, "We have a deal. Decision to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) of support to Ukraine for 2026-27 approved. We committed, we delivered," [. . .] French President Emmanuel Macron said the deal was a major advance, saying that borrowing on capital markets "was the most realistic and practical way" to fund Ukraine and its war efforts,"' ABCNews.com reported.

Trump Efforts to Secure Peace Continues

Even as negotiators are meeting round the clock, in an effort to secure a peace plan, the two sides remain impossibly far apart on key demands declared by Putin this week, of surrender of regions. Moreover, Putin's threat of "acquiring weapons unmatched by any country," may hint to the use of biological or chemical warfare.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to present alternatives to a peace deal, such as agreeing to an energy ceasefire, where the two sides would agree to no longer attack the opposing nation's energy infrastructure. This was dismissed by Putin's negotiators who demand a complete peace deal or no deal.

'"The situation in the Odesa region is harsh due to Russian strikes on port infrastructure and logistics. Russia is once again trying to restrict Ukraine's access to the sea and block our coastal regions," Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv. Russia's aim is "to sow chaos, to exert moral pressure during winter... so that there is no fuel, no food supplies, so that there are problems with medical supplies," he said," Reuters reported.

No nation is more determined to secure a peace deal than the Ukraine. As the nearly four year war has resulted in between in an estimated 1.5 Russian killed and wounded, and an estimated 400,000 Ukrainians.   The terms of the recent Peace Deal, which heavily favored Russia, have been all but rejected, with key components including seceding land removed, as well as any Russian authority that would control Ukraine armaments or future autonomy, growth, independence, and rebuild.

Negotiation continued this weekend, with Zelensky's team meeting Friday, and Putin's team meeting at Mar-a-Lago, the weekend retreat of the president, today.

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Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from each new variants.

For the seven days ending December 21, 2025, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 17,180 to 778,974,005. The total worldwide death toll increased by 3,232 to 7,106,694 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated November 30, 2025, from the World Health Organization).

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Bondi Beach Massacre

Bondi Beach, Australia, was the scene of a gruesome massacre, as two gunmen targeting families who had gathered for the annual lighting of the Menorah, celebrating the first night of Chanukah, opened fire killing 15 and injuring 25.

As the horrors of the violence began to filter throughout the world, details of the shocking carnage emerged. Two gunmen, a father, 50, and son, 24, loyal to the Islamic State, arrived at one of the world's most beautiful beaches, where the annual Chanukah by the Sea event, a tradition within the local Jewish community, was about to begin after a day of celebration and fun.

Gun violence is practically non-existent in Australia, so when the rapid succession of pop-pop-pop began at 6:42 PM, no one considered the possibility that the scourge of gun violence had somehow found its way to this idyllic spot on the coast of Sydney.  

"It will be Australia's worst terrorist attack. It will be the worst attack on Jews anywhere since October 7, 2023. It will also produce heroes; the couple who give their lives trying to foil the attack as it begins; Muslim immigrant Ahmed al-Ahmed who single-handedly disarmed one gunman; the detective who made the critical shot; another Middle Eastern immigrant who kicked a weapon away; the outgunned young policeman who ran towards the danger, the lifeguards, the police who drove the ambulances, the emergency workers and medical staff, the tens of thousands who gave blood," The Financial Review reported.

A memorial for the victims, held on the Monday following the massacre, was attended by thousands of residents, showing support and attempting to understand how this plague of hate manage to filter into the safety of their home.

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For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.