Hi, this is Tony in San Diego. Nine months ago, I shattered my leg in a motorcycle accident.

Today, I cycled 100 miles for to raise money for pancreatic cancer. This podcast was recorded at

105 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18th, 2025. Things may have changed since the time this was recorded, but I will still be incredibly

thankful for the doctors, nurses, family and friends, and more specifically the VA, who taught

me how to walk again this year.

Wow.

Have a great day.

Let's go.

Man, that is awesome.

I just got amped up, just listening to that. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Miles Parks. I cover voting. I'm Tom Bowman. I cover the Pentagon. And I'm Frank O'Donias. I cover the White House. And today on the show, an intensifying pressure campaign against Venezuela. The United States has now killed more than 80 people

and strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the East Pacific Ocean, and President Trump says he

has not ruled out the possibility of sending troops into the country. I don't rule out that. I don't

rule on anything. Franco, there is a lot to unpack here. What do you make of what we heard there from the president and where this is all headed?

On the one hand, he's continuing to threaten more strikes on Venezuela, but he's also talking about potentially speaking directly with Nicholas Maduro, the Venezuelan leader.

And that does seem to suggest the possibility of a

diplomatic path to diffuse tensions, a potential off-ramp. But, and I do think this is a very big

butt, while he's saying those things, you know, he's also parking an aircraft carrier in the Caribbean

with so much military hardware.

And as we often say and often hear, actions speak louder than words.

Right.

I mean, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, right?

Tom, I mean, walk us through exactly the military presence that is being amassed in the Caribbean right now.

...