Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, featuring some valuable reporting assists from our colleagues Sam Skove and Rachel Oswald from the halls of Congress.
Here’s what’s on tap for the day: Congress airs out its Defense Department frustrations, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum downplays reports about potential U.S. military action, and the Gaza peace plan inches forward.
‘Doing What It Pleases’
A growing congressional backlash against U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s massive reshaping of the Pentagon’s communication strategy came to a head this week.
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee ripped into Pentagon policy planning staff in two confirmation hearings on Tuesday and Thursday, accusing the policy office of failing to communicate with Congress and U.S. foreign allies about major defense moves.
“We talked to the Japanese, we talked to the Taiwanese, the Koreans, and the Baltic nations,” said Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the committee, during a confirmation hearing for Pentagon policy official Alex Velez-Green. “In many of these conversations, we hear that the Pentagon policy office seems to be doing what it pleases without coordinating, even inside the U.S. executive branch.”
The at-times adversarial hearing followed a Tuesday confirmation hearing for Pentagon policy official Austin Dahmer, where lawmakers aired similar concerns. “Members and staff of this committee have struggled to receive information from the policy office,” Wicker said.
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby is the “hardest guy to get a hold of in the Trump administration,” added Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is also a Republican. “Man, I can’t even get a response. And we’re on your team,” he said, adding that Hegseth and even Trump, by contrast, had been “incredibly responsive” to his outreach.
The Defense Department denies that there has been a lack of communication.
“All DoW components engage with Congress on a very regular basis, in line with guidance established by the Secretary to ensure that we are being as responsive and transparent as possible,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement to SitRep, using an acronym for the Defense Department’s unofficial new name, the Department of War.
“The Policy organization alone, under the leadership of Under Secretary Colby, has briefed Congress dozens of times, in both classified and unclassified settings, in addition to other meetings,” Wilson added. “The Department values its relationship with the Hill, and we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with Congress to support a robust national defense.”
Yet Hegseth has significantly clamped down on the Defense Department’s external communications, including by placing restrictions on the Pentagon press corps that resulted in a mass walkout by dozens of journalists and requiring formal approval for any Defense Department interactions with Congress.
Congressional frustration over the lack of communication has boiled over in recent weeks, most notably over U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats near Venezuela and a sudden withdrawal of some U.S. troops from Europe.
Wicker said on Tuesday that the recently announced permanent withdrawal of elements of an U.S. Army brigade from Romania was “abrupt” and argued it went counter to the policy of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said there would be no troop drawdown in Europe.
Dahmer told Wicker during the Tuesday hearing that the Pentagon had briefed the committee three times on the Romanian withdrawal. Wicker, however, said neither majority nor minority staff were aware of any briefings.
Velez-Green said on Thursday that Dahmer was referring to notifications sent to Congress, not briefings. He confirmed they occurred less than a week before the official announcement. He also said Romania was first notified two days before the public announcement.
The frustration is more widespread than just that particular committee. “I don’t like reading in the newspaper that we’re withdrawing troops from Romania, a country that has the longest border with Ukraine, and it says a lot about our posture vis-à-vis Europe,” Sen. Thom Tillis, the Republican co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, told FP’s Rachel Oswald on Wednesday. “So yeah, I’m a little bit frustrated.”
The lack of coordination and communication may also be happening within the Pentagon itself. Velez-Green denied on Thursday that the United States had ever paused military aid to Ukraine, describing that claim as coming from “inaccurate media reports”—despite the Pentagon having publicly confirmed a pause in July.
Let’s Get Personnel
Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host who was previously engaged to Donald Trump Jr., has officially begun her new job as U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle, the first woman to hold the position, is entering the role as the United States seeks to boost energy ties with the European country.
On the Button
What should be high on your radar, if it isn’t already.
U.S. military operation in Mexico? Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum threw cold water on a report that the Trump administration is weighing options for sending troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to combat drug cartels. “It’s not going to happen,” Sheinbaum said on Tuesday, adding that her country opposes any “interference or interventionism.”
Trump has discussed the possibility of ordering the U.S. military to fight drug cartels in Mexico since his campaign and has been deeply critical of the Mexican government’s approach to organized crime. But if the United States conducted a unilateral military operation in Mexico, it would risk blowing up relations with its southern neighbor and top trading partner at a time when ties are already strained by fights over trade and tariffs.
The United States and Mexico have a history of collaborating against drug trafficking and in September while vowing to respect each other’s sovereignty. But Sheinbaum—who has criticized the Trump administration’s escalating war on alleged drug boats in Latin America—has repeatedly pushed back on the idea of the United States acting unilaterally. She’s also resisting calls to take a militarized approach to drug trafficking that have come after the recent assassination of a mayor in Michoacan.
Trump wants the U.N. to endorse his Gaza plan. On Wednesday, the United States presented a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council to endorse Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which would involve the establishment of an international transitional body—a Board of Peace that Trump would chair—and an international stabilization force to handle security in the enclave over a two-year period. This force would also oversee the demilitarization of Gaza and disarmament of Hamas, a key aspect of the plan that the militant group hasn’t agreed to. A U.N. mandate is seen as crucial for convincing countries to participate in the stabilization force.
The Trump administration has said that regional partners support the resolution and is urging the Security Council to do the same, though it’s unclear when a vote might occur. Mike Waltz, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., met with Palestinian diplomats to discuss the resolution this week, and negotiations over the resolution began on Thursday.
Snapshot
Sudanese students in Al Qadarif protest against violations allegedly committed by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians in El Fasher, Sudan, on Nov. 6.
Sudanese students in Al Qadarif protest against violations allegedly committed by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians in El Fasher, Sudan, on Nov. 6.AFP via Getty Images
Put On Your Radar
Friday, Nov. 7: Trump is set to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House.
The Dutch electoral council is poised to officially confirm the recent national election results.
Saturday, Nov. 8: Bolivia’s new president, Rodrigo Paz, officially takes office.
Sunday, Nov. 9: The EU-CELAC summit is set to begin in Santa Marta, Colombia.
Monday, Nov. 10: COP30 begins in Belém, Brazil.
Trump is set to host Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House.
Parliamentary elections are due to be held in Egypt.
Tuesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day is observed in the United States.
Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections.
G-7 foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Ontario, Canada.
Catherine Connolly is poised to be inaugurated as Ireland’s president.
By the Numbers
The United States has built up a sizable military presence in the Caribbean—and reopened a base in Puerto Rico that was closed for years—as it continues to conduct strikes on alleged drug boats in the region. The strikes, which initially began off the coast of Venezuela, have expanded into the Pacific in recent weeks.
The operation has raised speculation that the Trump administration is pushing for regime change in Venezuela. The administration has sent mixed signals on the subject, but reports indicate that Trump and other officials have been privately discussing available options for attacking the South American country.
The nature and scale of the force that the administration has amassed in the region has bolstered the perception that it is either hoping to create enough pressure to see the Maduro regime fall or planning on taking military actions that go well beyond targeting alleged drug smugglers. For perspective, roughly 14 percent of the U.S. Navy’s global combat fleet is currently deployed in the Caribbean.
As the situation escalates and questions remain over what might happen next, here’s a look at what we know about the military assets that the United States has deployed the region, per recent reports:
- Around 10,000 military personnel
- Eight Navy warships and supporting vessels
- A special operations vessel
- One nuclear-powered attack submarine
- Multiple types of air assets, including: F-35 fighter jets, B-1B Lancer bombers, B-52 bombers, MQ-9 Reaper drones, P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and C-17 cargo aircraft, among others
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is also en route with its strike group and is expected to arrive around Nov. 10. When it does, the strike group will add to the region:
- Around 4,500 military personnel
- Nine aircraft squadrons (the Ford can hold more than 75 military aircraft)
- The Ford’s strike group contains five destroyers—including the USS Bainbridge, which is accompanying the aircraft carrier en route to the Caribbean—but it’s unclear whether all will be deployed to the region.
Quote of the Week
“I’m more famous than Taylor Swift in the United States right now.”
—Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, joking on state television about the Trump administration’s focus on his regime.
