The President's Daily Brief
November 5th, 2025: U.S. Revives Abandoned Base Just Miles from Venezuela & Ukraine Hits Deep Inside Russia
05 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the U.S. is reviving a long-abandoned naval base in the Caribbean, fueling speculation that Washington is preparing for possible operations against Venezuela. I'll have the details. Later in the show, the U.S. is pushing for U.N.
approval of a new Gaza security force. The plan calls for a multinational mission with a two-year mandate to stabilize the territory and oversee its post-war transition. Ah, good luck with that. Plus, new long-range Ukrainian drone strikes hit an industrial plant deep inside Russia, while heavy fighting continues for control of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk.
And in today's Back of the Brief, former Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who helped shape decades of U.S. foreign policy, has died at the age of 84. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. New satellite images and on the ground reporting reveal a major U.S. military development in the Caribbean, one that could signal preparations for sustained operations related to Venezuela.
According to an exclusive Reuters investigation, the U.S. has quietly begun upgrading a long abandoned Cold War era naval base in Puerto Rico. The base is known as Roosevelt Roads. It was once a key hub for U.S. naval operations in the region before closing in 2004. Now, nearly 20 years later, it's coming back to life. Satellite photos show freshly paved taxiways and cleared runways.
Construction began around mid-September of this year, and activity has steadily increased since. The facility sits on Puerto Rico's southeastern coast, just a few hundred miles from Venezuela. At the same time, work is also underway at nearby civilian airports in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including St. Croix.
Each location offers space for refueling, logistics, and staging of personnel. Together, they form what appears to be a new forward operating network, one positioned roughly 500 miles from Caracas. Now, officially, U.S. officials describe these projects as part of a logistics and counter-narcotics effort. But the scale, the timing, and proximity does leave one wondering.
Analysts who spoke with Reuters say this looks like preparation for sustained operations, not some quick exercise. And that's significant because Roosevelt Roads isn't just any base. It was once the largest U.S. naval facility outside the continental U.S. During the Cold War, it supported anti-submarine patrols, intelligence flights, and regional interventions.
Reopening it now, with modern upgrades, gives Washington a powerful tool, the ability to project force across northern South America at a moment's notice.
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Chapter 2: Why is the U.S. reviving a naval base near Venezuela?
Of course, the timing, as you might imagine, isn't random. The Trump administration has made no secret of its frustration with Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro. For months, Washington has accused his regime of allowing drug cartels and criminal networks and Iranian proxy groups to operate freely on Venezuelan soil. Building up new operational capacity in the Caribbean gives the U.S.
government options. Logistically, it shortens the response time for maritime patrols and special operations and humanitarian missions. Politically, it sends a message to Maduro, to Moscow, and to Beijing that the U.S. still holds the strategic high ground in its own hemisphere. Still, this kind of move isn't without risk.
Regional allies might see it as a deterrent, but others could view it as provocation. Venezuela, backed by Russia and China to some degree, could interpret the building as yet another step toward intervention and respond by mobilizing forces or conducting aggressive naval patrols of its own. There's also the diplomatic angle.
For decades, Latin American leaders have bristled at signs of renewed US militarization in the region. To many, a rebuilt Roosevelt Roads base is a throwback to the Cold War, when Washington often acted unilaterally in what is called its backyard. But even if the optics are sensitive, the military logic is hard to ignore. A Caribbean staging ground gives the U.S.
enormous flexibility, not just for Venezuela, but for counter-narcotics missions and even disaster relief. It's a forward operating platform that can be activated for multiple reasons. Now, fueling speculation about possible intervention, President Trump the other day directly linked the buildup to Venezuela's leadership. He told reporters that, quote,
At the same time, he confirmed that the U.S. is now overseeing its largest military presence in the Caribbean in more than 35 years. That includes the carrier groups, surveillance aircraft, and a nuclear-powered submarine, all of which we've been watching here on the PDB. For Maduro, those comments are just the latest warning shot.
For everyone else watching the region, they possibly turn a logistics and construction project into something much louder, a statement of intent. After all, when a long-shuttered base starts humming again, and the president says a dictator's days are numbered, well, those are signals that the world tends to notice. All right. Coming up next, the U.S. pushes for a U.N.-backed Gaza security force.
And Ukraine and Russian forces fight a fierce battle over a key city in Donetsk. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here, PDB host and, of course, fashion icon. So let me tell you about a great clothing company. They're called True Classic. Now, True Classic started with a simple goal, right?
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the U.S. military presence in the Caribbean?
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In today's Back of the Brief, former Vice President Dick Cheney passed away on Monday at the age of 84, closing the book on one of the most influential and controversial public service careers in modern U.S. politics. Cheney, who served as Vice President under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, died from complications of pneumonia compounded by cardiac and vascular disease.
That's according to a statement from his family. He's survived by his wife, Lynn, and daughters, Liz and Mary. And he leaves behind a legacy that redefined the vice presidency, American foreign policy, and the role of the executive branch in the post-9-11 era.
Cheney's lifelong career in public service spanned decades, beginning in earnest with his early work in the Nixon administration, where he first served under Donald Rumsfeld at the Office of Economic Opportunity.
Following Nixon's resignation, he held various roles in the administration of President Gerald Ford, eventually ascending to the position of White House Chief of Staff in 1975 at the age of just 34, making him the youngest person ever to hold that title. Imagine being the White House Chief of Staff at the age of 34. He then went on to serve for a decade as a U.S.
congressional representative for Wyoming before returning to the White House in 1989 as Secretary of Defense under President George H.W. Bush. During this time, Cheney led the U.S. military during the First Gulf War, overseeing operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, which successfully expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Saddam Hussein invaded the country back in 1990.
Following his stint as Secretary of Defense, it appeared Cheney's life of public service had come to an end. From 1995 to the year 2000, he was the CEO and chairman of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy service companies, specializing, of course, in oil and natural gas.
But when George W. Bush asked him to join his presidential ticket in the summer of 2000, Cheney answered the call, and it was in this role as vice president where Cheney left his most enduring mark. Cheney transformed the position from a largely ceremonial role into a strategic power center, driving national intelligence, defense policy, and the post-911 war effort.
In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, Cheney became the architect of a new American posture, marked by preemptive action, expansive intelligence authority, aggressive surveillance, and robust military engagement abroad.
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