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▪ GOP skeptical on Venezuela goals

▪ Second batch of Epstein files released

▪ Trump unveils new warships named after himself

▪ Weiss defends pulling ‘60 Minutes’ segment

© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon and Jesus Vargas

Republicans are divided on whether President Trump should increase military pressure to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with some pointing to the U.S.’s poor experience with regime change in recent decades.

Trump has gradually ramped up pressure on Maduro, whom the administration has accused of facilitating drug smuggling into the U.S., conducting strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and deploying warships, surveillance planes, fighter aircraft and an aircraft carrier to the region.

Most recently, the administration has begun seizing oil tankers that it says are carrying sanctioned oil as Trump declared a blockade on all such vessels entering or exiting Venezuela.

The president hasn’t made clear what his ultimate goal is regarding Venezuela but has refused to rule out any options. He has repeatedly signaled he would launch land strikes targeting drug production facilities soon and would possibly even send troops into the country.

Trump also has said he believes Maduro’s “days are numbered.” He told NBC News last week he wouldn’t rule out war with Venezuela and that Maduro “knows exactly what I want,” declining to elaborate.

The commander-in-chief's approach has struck at a divide within the GOP between a more traditional faction supporting a hawkish foreign policy and another camp supporting noninterventionist policies.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told GOP senators last week that Trump isn’t pursuing regime change, but some Republicans are skeptical given White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’s comments to Vanity Fair in which she said Trump wants to keep “blowing up boats until Maduro cries uncle.”

Senate Republicans largely support Trump’s tactics of targeting Venezuelan boats, but some argue attacking the regime directly would go too far.

“I think we just have to be very careful when we’re dealing with regime change. It seems to backfire a lot,” Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall (R) said.

Another Republican senator said they believe the administration is intent on ousting Maduro.

“I don’t want to have another Iraq or Afghanistan,” they said, referring to the wars in which the U.S. helped oust Saddam Hussein and the Taliban from power.

Both situations quickly turned into quagmires that dragged on for years.

Trump said Monday that it would be “smart” for Maduro to give up power, but said it’s up to him.

“But again, we’re going to find out,” he said.

Meanwhile, Trump on Monday continued to ramp up his rhetoric against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, warning him to "watch his a‑‑" and close alleged drug factories in his country.

"I love the Colombian people,” Trump said. “But their new leader is a troublemaker, and he better watch it. He better close up those cocaine factories. There are at least three major cocaine factories. We know where they are.”

▪ The Hill: Trump says U.S. will keep oil and ships seized near Venezuela.

▪ The Hill: China slams seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers.

▪ The Hill: U.S. carries out another strike in the East Pacific.

PRESIDENT UNVEILS 'TRUMP-CLASS' WARSHIPS: Trump has one more major item bearing his name –– a new class of battleships, he announced Monday.

Trump said he approved a plan for the Navy to start constructing two battleships as part of the "Golden Fleet," which the Navy said last week would protect larger ships from surface vessels and fighter jets. The ships will be equipped with guns, missiles, hypersonic weapons and high-powered lasers.

The president said the ships will take about two and a half years to build. The military is expected to have between 20 and 25 of them.

The ships are the latest item set to bear the president's name. The administration has pushed to brand other buildings and initiatives after the president, including the new "Trump Accounts" for kids, the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Kennedy Center.

© The Hill | Greg Nash

EPSTEIN FILES DROP: The Department of Justice (DOJ) early Tuesday released thousands of additional documents it has on Jeffrey Epstein, following up on its first release from the end of last week.

CBS News reported the latest drop includes more than 11,000 files, including multi-paged documents and hundreds of videos. It also includes court records, FBI and DOJ documents, emails and news clippings.

Many of the documents include references to Trump, including one that shows a subpoena was sent to Mar-a-Lago in 2021 for records related to the government's case against Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, The Washington Post reported. They also include notes from an assistant U.S. attorney in New York about the number of times Trump flew on Epstein's plane.

Being named in the Epstein files is not itself considered an accusation of wrongdoing, and Trump has maintained that he broke off his ties with Epstein long before the convicted sex offender's arrest and death in 2019.

Trump pushed back on Monday over photos released on people who he said "innocently met" with Epstein. He called the release of photos showing former President Clinton with Epstein a "terrible thing."

“I don’t like the pictures of Bill Clinton being shown. I don’t like the pictures of other people being shown. I think it’s a terrible thing," he said.

▪ The Hill: Former Clinton spokesperson calls for full release of files.

▪ The Hill: Dems acknowledge Clinton’s ties to Epstein don’t look good.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are wrestling with what their next steps should be on the Epstein files.

The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi and Rebecca Beitsch report that members of Congress are divided on how strongly to push back against the DOJ for failing to share all the unclassified documents it has on the disgraced financier.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who led the effort to require the files’ release, have said they’re drafting a resolution to hold Attorney General Pam Bondi in “inherent contempt,” fining her every day the remaining files aren’t released. Other Democrats have called for examining all legal options. But some have raised doubts about doing so immediately.

WEISS BACKLASH: Concerns are spiking among critics of CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss about the independence of the outlet following her decision to pull a “60 Minutes” segment shortly before it was to air.

The segment was set to cover poor conditions inside a notorious prison in El Salvador, known as CECOT, where the Trump administration has sent Venezuelan migrants. But Weiss argued the segment wasn’t ready for publication yet and had it pulled a few hours before Sunday’s episode.

Weiss reportedly requested several changes to the segment, arguing it also needed an on-the-record statement from the administration. But the correspondent who covered the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, alleged in a note to her colleagues obtained by multiple outlets that the decision was “political.”

Alfonsi said she reached out to the White House, State Department and Department of Homeland Security but didn’t receive a response. She maintained that the story had been screened five times and had been cleared to air.

“Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story,” she said in the email to her colleagues. “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”

The decision to pull the segment marks one of the first major controversies for Weiss since she was tapped to lead the news outlet in October. She was appointed chief editor after CBS’s parent company, Paramount, acquired her media startup company, The Free Press.

Weiss has been a strong critic of mainstream media coverage, and supporters and critics alike have widely expected shake-ups at CBS under her leadership.

Questions about media independence and journalistic integrity arose earlier following Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Trump over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes” that aired last year and the administration’s subsequent approval of a merger between Paramount and Skydance.

Lawmakers critical of Trump and his allies slammed Weiss’s decision, arguing it demonstrates the president is successfully intimidating news outlets.

“What is happening to CBS is a terrible embarrassment and if executives think they can build shareholder value by avoiding journalism that might offend the Mad King they are about to learn a tough lesson,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote on the social platform X. “This is still America and we don’t enjoy bulls--- like this.”

Weiss is standing by her decision, telling The New York Times in a statement that holding stories that aren’t ready happens every day in newsrooms. She has said the segment will air once it’s ready.

▪ The Hill: What to know about Weiss’s decision.

▪ CNBC: Larry Ellison backing Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

WIND PROJECTS SUSPENDED: Senate Democrats are walking away from talks about permitting reform following the Trump administration’s announcement that it’s suspending five major offshore wind projects.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Monday that the leases were being paused because of “national security concerns.” A press release from the department cited potential radar interference known as “clutter” from wind turbines, arguing it obscures “legitimate moving targets and generates false targets” near the wind projects.

All five projects are located on the East Coast, near New England, New York and Virginia. The projects together would be expected to generate enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes, according to the projects’ websites.

Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.) said they will abandon long-running discussions about legislation to speed up energy and infrastructure construction unless the administration reverses course. They’ve been negotiating with Republican Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) on a possible deal for months.

“The illegal attacks on fully permitted renewable energy projects must be reversed if there is to be any chance that permitting talks resume. There is no path to permitting reform if this administration refuses to follow the law,” Heinrich and Whitehouse said in a joint statement.

▪ Reuters: Shares of offshore wind projects drop after decision.

▪ The Hill: Trump rejects Colorado disaster funding for wildfires, flooding.

FOREIGN DRONE BAN: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has banned new foreign-made drones from being sold in the U.S., citing national security concerns.

The order prevents these products from being sold or imported in the U.S. but doesn't apply to technology that's already been sold in the country. The FCC made the decision in line with the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which called for reviewing the national security risks that certain technologies pose.

DJI, a Chinese company, holds a majority of the drone industry's market share.

© The Associated Press | Jon Cherry

REVVING UP: The shadow primary for the 2028 Republican presidential race is showing signs of getting underway, with potential candidates’ names gaining more attention.

Erika Kirk, who took over as head of the influential conservative group Turning Point USA following the assassination of her husband, made a splash last week when she backed Vice President Vance for the GOP's 2028 presidential nomination. Vance hasn’t publicly said if he will run but has been seen as the de facto front-runner in the Republican race to become Trump’s successor.

But The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that some cracks have formed within the conservative movement over who should take the reins from Trump after his term ends.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) signaled he wouldn’t back Vance, arguing the party has gotten away from its traditional values of free trade and limited government.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has recently been reported to be considering another presidential run, enthused by a split with Vance on foreign policy.

Rubio has also been seen as a possible heir apparent to Trump, who has praised his secretary of State and suggested he might run with Vance on a ticket.

Other names that have generated buzz include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.

While Vance may be the early favorite, signs point to a competitive race for the GOP following next year's midterms.

▪ The Hill: Republican says Vance, Rubio more likely to run together.

▪ CNN: Half say they’re already thinking about 2028.

© The Associated Press | Mark Schiefelbein

HERITAGE EXODUS: More than a dozen staff members have left the Heritage Foundation and joined former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom (AAF).

The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts announced the departures internally in an all-staff email on Sunday, and AAF announced the hirings Monday.

Heritage lost most of its staff from the group’s legal and economic centers, while AAF is nearly doubling in size.

“We wish them well, though the manner of their departures speaks volumes,” Roberts said in the email obtained by The Hill.

The departures are the latest blow in the fallout stemming from Roberts’s defense of Tucker Carlson for interviewing white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Roberts later apologized, but staff had been growing dissatisfied long before the incident as he has led the think tank in a more pro-Trump, populist and noninterventionist direction.

Check out more of Brooks’s reporting in her weekly newsletter, The Movement. Click here to sign up.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Top Heritage officials flee.

CONWAY IN: Lawyer and staunch Trump critic George Conway has joined the increasingly crowded Democratic primary race to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

A filing from the Federal Election Commission shows Conway, who co-founded the anti-Trump Lincoln Project after being a lifelong Republican, filed his candidacy on Monday. Conway had been married to former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway before they divorced in 2023.

George Conway left the Republican Party during Trump’s first term and has consistently stoked the president’s ire since then.

The New York Times reported last month that Conway was looking at a run. He’s set to join a bustling Democratic field in New York’s solidly blue 12th Congressional District.

Other candidates include New York State Assembly members Alex Bores and Micah Lasher; Parkland, Fla., shooting survivor and gun control advocate Cameron Kasky; and political commentator Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy.

▪ The Independent: Trump’s former pollster finds Dems lead on generic ballot.

© The Associated Press | Charlie Riedel

And finally … The Kansas City Chiefs appear set to move across state lines in the 2030s as the team announced Monday it reached a deal to move to Kansas from its current home in Missouri.

A council of top lawmakers in Kansas voted unanimously at the state Capitol to allow the state to use more than $2.4 billion in bonds to cover 60 percent of the cost of a new, domed stadium; a new training facility; and retail and entertainment space, The Associated Press reported.

The bonds will be paid off with state sales and liquor tax revenue generated in the area around it.

The stadium is expected to be built in Kansas City, Kan., in an area near the home of the Major League Soccer team, Sporting Kansas City. It’s expected to be ready to open before the 2031 season.

“The location of Chiefs games will change, but some things won’t change,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt reportedly said after the meeting. “Our fans will still be the loudest in the NFL, our games will still be the best place in the world to tailgate, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete for championships, because on the field or off the field, we are big dreamers, and we’re ready for the next chapter.”

The Chiefs are coming toward the end of their first losing season and first time missing the playoffs in more than a decade after multiple Super Bowl wins.

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