President Trump suggested that the United States is preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela, telling service members during a Thanksgiving call that efforts for strikes on land will be starting “very soon,” CNN reports.

Said Trump: “In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore.”

He added: “You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also. The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”

Wall Street Journal: “In Europe, Russia is seeking to exploit Trump’s desire to halt the war in Ukraine and strike business deals with Moscow by shaping a peace plan that meets many of its strategic objectives, including winning chunks of Ukrainian territory and closing off any hope Kyiv had of joining NATO.”

“In Asia, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is attempting to steer Trump toward abandoning Taiwan in exchange for an expansive U.S.-China trade accord, a key Trump goal. China claims the self-ruled island as its own and hasn’t ruled out taking it by force.”

“Chinese leader Xi Jinping was angry, and President Trump was listening,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Days after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi outraged China by suggesting a Chinese attack on Taiwan could mobilize a Tokyo military response, Xi spent half of an hourlong phone call with Trump, people briefed on the matter said, hammering home China’s historic claim to the democratic self-governing island as well as Washington and Beijing’s joint responsibility to manage the world order.”

“Later the same day, Trump set up a call with Takaichi and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty, said Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call.”

“France is creating a paid, voluntary military service for young people and aims to enroll up to 50,000 of them over the next decade,” the New York Times reports.

“The announcement came days after the French Army chief, Gen. Fabien Mandon, set off a national uproar for saying that France must accept the possible loss of its children in a potential future conflict. Those comments were made against the backdrop of a growing threat from Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.”

“Russia said on that the leak of a recording of a call between top advisers to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was an unacceptable attempt to undermine Ukraine peace negotiations and amounted to hybrid warfare,” Reuters reports.

Simon Shuster: “The most consistent thing about Trump’s 10-month search for an end to the war in Ukraine has been his inconsistency.”

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told European allies that the U.S. wants a peace deal before it agrees to any security guarantees for Ukraine,” Politico reports.

“Trump has said he won’t invite Ukraine’s leader to the White House until a deal is signed.”