President Donald Trump has seen recent setbacks in his polling numbers on many issues, but one bright spot in surveys has been his aggressive approach to Venezuela, including taking out drug cartel boats. But there is another purpose at work here, one that may help to end the war in Ukraine.

What is important to understand is that Venezuela is a client state of Russia, as is Iran, and as was Syria until the recent overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. One by one, Trump has been proving that against American might, Putin cannot keep his sketchy global friends safe.

‘Russia’s track record with allies like Iran, Syria, and now Venezuela reveals a familiar pattern,’ Peter Duran, adjunct senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told me. ‘The Kremlin will make lavish statements of support, but provide minimal backing when real threats emerge to its clients.’

Noting how thin PUtin is stretched by the war in Ukraine and U.S. sanctions, Duran said ‘keeping Maduro in power is a bridge too far for Moscow if President Trump presses the issue.’

One can almost see Trump’s main Ukraine negotiator, Steve Witkoff, saying to a Russian counterpart, ‘How’s your boy Maduro, doing? Seems to be having a tough time. I wish we could help …’

While Putin has been murdering Ukrainians and maintaining the largest European land war in generations, Trump has been weakening Russian global power. Syria is making nice with America, Iran has been de-nuclearized and now that leaves Venezuela.

In recent weeks, Russian cargo planes have been seen flying into Venezuela. Nobody is ever quite sure if they are there to bring supplies, or perhaps at some point, to airlift Maduro to an early retirement in Moscow, where al-Assad now resides.

It is a very telling situation, because the entire reason that Putin invaded Ukraine was that he believes it falls under Russia’s sphere of influence. Yet, without putting a single soldier in combat, the United States has marshalled support for Ukraine that has stymied the Russian dictator.

For almost four years now, Putin has sent his own armies into a meat grinder, employed North Korean mercenaries and expended more treasure than seen in all the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies combined. It’s been little avail in terms of breaking the stalemate.

Compare that with America’s situation regarding Venezuela. We could take out Maduro tomorrow and there’s not a damn thing Putin could do about it.

In fact, this week’s new National Security Strategy statement from the Trump administration doubles down on a Monroe Doctrine-like policy of putting the Western Hemisphere first and foremost in our security goals.

But rightfully putting our own backyard first does not mean that Trump or America are exiting from the global stage. In fact, much the opposite is true.

Trump understands the global chess board. He knows that, while direct conflict with Russia could lead to global war, picking off the Kremlin’s rogue client states around the edges is fair game, and puts pressure on the center of that board.

‘President Trump’s big stick approach to Venezuela recalls Theodore Roosevelt’s approach to the region. Instead of gunboat diplomacy, Trump is deploying supercarrier diplomacy,’ Duran told me. ‘A quiet retirement abroad is the best option for Maduro before options narrow further. Putin won’t be able to save him.’

Trump has put Putin in an incredibly tough position here. If the dictator remains dedicated to his fantasy of reclaiming all of Ukraine to restore the USSR, he risks the United States undermining his allies and clients across the globe.

Russia may be faced with the choice of regaining what it believes is its territorial integrity at the price of no longer being a global superpower.

Trump is proving again, as he once told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that he holds all the cards. At the moment, he is playing them masterfully, tightening the noose around Russia as its geopolitical allies are knocked off one by one.

At last week’s cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Trump’s foreign policy as transformational, ‘because for the first time in a long time we have a president who basically puts America at the forefront of every decision we make in our in relations with the world.’

In Venezuela, the Department of War is indeed playing offense, as Trump promised, but the opponent isn’t really Maduro, it’s Putin, who may soon find out that another of his pariah allies is off the board forever.

Rosie O’Donnell is sounding the alarm about her ongoing fixation with President Donald Trump.

The 63-year-old, along with some of her friends and family, spoke to The Washington Post about her move to Ireland after Trump’s re-election last November, and one thing was made clear from the article. 

She ‘can’t resist’ speaking about Trump.

O’Donnell told the outlet she promised her therapist the Wednesday before Thanksgiving she would refrain from posting about Trump for two days.

It fell apart within hours.

A longtime friend, Jennifer Kopetic, was described as ‘annoyed’ when she told O’Donnell during a recent visit, ‘Roseann, you’ve got to detach. You’ve got to disconnect.’

She made another vow — three days this time — telling her 1.2 million Instagram followers she was ‘gonna try again to not give him a minute of me.’ However, she failed that attempt, too.

O’Donnell has said her emotional spiral began the moment Trump was elected.

‘I felt on the verge of crying … when he got elected,’ she previously told an Irish TV audience in March, explaining she feared a second term. 

The former talk show host said her concerns were personal. A lesbian mother of five — with her youngest, 12-year-old Clay, identifying as nonbinary and diagnosed with autism — O’Donnell feared what she saw as Trump-era hostility toward LGBTQ Americans and the potential gutting of federal support for special education programs.

The Washington Post reported that, during Trump’s first term, she channeled her anxiety into more than 200 angry digital portraits of the former president on her iPad, labeling him ‘Moron,’ ‘Loser’ and ‘Liar.’

That kind of ‘obsessed’ focus on Trump is exactly what convinced O’Donnell she had no choice but to leave the U.S.

Her brother Eddie, who is helping with her Irish citizenship application, called her move abroad ‘the best decision she’s made … honestly.’ 

O’Donnell made her recent remarks after she said the political stress she carries is spilling into her family — especially her daughter, who she said blames Trump for uprooting their lives.

‘My daughter is now saying, ‘Damn him. Damn Trump,’’ O’Donnell said during an appearance on ‘The Jim Acosta Show.’

According to O’Donnell, her daughter hit their table in frustration, shouting, ‘He made us move for our own safety … and now he’s destroying the country.’ 

O’Donnell acknowledged the difficulty of trying to keep her daughter shielded from the chaos while still being honest about why they left. 

‘She hears everything. She recognizes what’s going on,’ she said.

The comedian added she’s ready to step back from political combat.

‘Somebody can tap me out. … I did 22 years. I don’t need to do anymore.’

The White House wasted no time responding to O’Donnell’s renewed attacks.

‘Rosie O’Donnell clearly suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, and it’s better for the entire country that she decided to move away,’ White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

O’Donnell moved to Ireland after claiming Trump threatened to strip her of U.S. citizenship. 

In October, she announced she was pursuing Irish citizenship, citing her grandparents’ roots and her desire for distance from American politics.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that certain evidence linked to an ally of former FBI Director James Comey is off limits to the Justice Department in its efforts to prosecute the ex-director.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the DOJ may not use information pertaining to Daniel Richman.

‘Upon consideration of Petitioner Daniel Richman’s Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, the relevant legal authority, and the entire present record, the Court concludes that Petitioner Richman is entitled to a narrow temporary restraining order to preserve the status quo while the Court evaluates his Motion for Return of Property and awaits full briefing and argument from the parties,’ the ruling reads.

The facts ‘weigh in favor of entering a prompt, temporary order to preserve the status quo now, before the Government has filed a response,’ it added.

Kelsey Grammer thinks President Donald Trump is ‘one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had.’

Earlier Saturday, Trump awarded the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees with their medals in the Oval Office. After the ceremony, the State Department Kennedy Center Honors medal presentation dinner was held.

This year’s recipients include Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, Michael Crawford and the members of KISS.

Speaking to Fox News Digital ahead of the dinner, Grammer, who was accompanied by his daughter Faith, called Trump ‘extraordinary.’

‘I think he’s extraordinary. He’s one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had. Maybe the greatest. There are some things he still wants to get done, and I think that’s terrific, but there was a big hill to climb,’ Grammer said.

‘I think he’s extraordinary. He’s one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had. Maybe the greatest.’

— Kelsey Grammer

‘And we were left with some very interesting things going on,’ he concluded.

The ‘Cheers’ star also touched on Stallone being honored during this year’s ceremony and said he’s ‘over the moon’ about it.

‘I was on the selection committee, so I knew about it,’ he added. ‘He’s a force of nature. Sylvester Stallone has captured our imagination in several different roles and performed them beautifully.’

Grammer said it was ‘about time’ that Stallone was honored.

Strait spoke to Fox News Digital on the red carpet and said, ‘It’s a great honor’ to be recognized by the Kennedy Center Honors.

During the Oval Office ceremony, Trump called the honorees ‘incredible people’ who represent the ‘very best in American arts and culture.’

‘I know most of them, and I’ve been a fan of all of them,’ Trump said, according to the Associated Press.

‘This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans. This is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled,’ Trump continued.

During the ceremony, Trump appointed each honoree with a newly designed medal, donated and created by jeweler Tiffany & Co.

It’s a gold disc etched on one side with the Kennedy Center’s image and signature rainbow colors. The honoree’s name and the ceremony date appear on the reverse. 

The medallion hangs from a navy-blue ribbon, replacing the original large rainbow ribbon – adorned with three gold plates – that rested on the honoree’s shoulders and chest and had been used since the first Honors program in 1978.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.