US military says it carried out lethal strike on vessel in Pacific, killing four, as Trump addresses country – as it happened

As always, it’s been a busy day in the world of US politics. Here are some of the highlights:

• The House of Representatives will be starting their Christmas break a day early. This news comes hours after four Republicans joined with the Democrats to sign a petition forcing a vote on legislation that will extend for three years premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act healthcare plans.

• A federal judge said that the Trump administration cannot stop members of Congress from making unannounced visits to immigrant detention facilities. This is pending the outcome of lawsuit from twelve Democratic representatives after multiple lawmakers were blocked from entering.

• Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, says the real motive behind the huge US military buildup in the Caribbean is oil: his country has the largest proven reserves in the world.

• Dan Bongino confirmed his exit from the FBI. Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and NYPD officer has also hosted several TV show, including guest-host stints on both The Sean Hannity Show and The Mark Levin Show. He later launched the Bongino Report and The Dan Bongino Show.

• The Senate has confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman to become Trump’s Nasa administrator, placing an advocate of Mars missions and a former associate of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as the space agency’s 15th leader, Reuters reports.

• Dan Newhouse – one of two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump over his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol – has announced that he will not be running for re-election in 2026.

• Former special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two now-dropped criminal cases against Donald Trump, defended his investigation before a House panel this morning, telling lawmakers that the basis for the prosecutions “rests entirely with President Trump and his actions”.

• Ro Khanna said on Wednesday morning that he’s giving the justice department the “benefit of the doubt” that it will make the Epstein files public by Friday – and warned there would be repercussions if it doesn’t. Khanna, one of the sponsors of the law requiring the release of the investigative files relating to the late sex offender by 19 December, told NBC News that DoJ officials have not responded to requests for information about how and when the files will be made public.

• The US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four men, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

• Donald Trump delivered a speech from the White House. It revisited well-trodden territory, totting out all the major Maga talking points.

The president did not address his administration’s escalating campaign against Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Here’s more analysis from the Guardian’s international team, on what we know so far:

One bit of news: Trump announced that 1,450,000 military service members will receive a $1,776 “warrior dividend” check in the mail before Christmas.

The money to pay service members would come from tariff revenues, the president said. The US has collected more than $200bn in tariffs this year as a result of new duties imposed by Trump, according to customs and border protection.

But the US supreme court considers arguments that the new tariffs are illegal, and if the duties are ruled unconstitutional, the government may be liable to repay companies that have paid those fees – leaving far fewer funds for the administration to use to pay out service members.

Other than that, not much more to report – this was a brief one.

Trump is repeating lies that fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked.

He falsely claimed that he secured $18tn in investment, that crime was at record levels under Joe Biden, that 25 million migrants entered the US under Biden, that prices of eggs have fallen this year. He claimed that he is cutting drug prices by 600%, which is impossible.

Here’s a fact check from earlier this month, that addresses many of Trump’s talking points today:

The president’s speech so far revisited well-trodden territory, totting out all the major Maga talking points.

He began by criticizing his predecessor, Joe Biden, and trotted out familiar lines from his campaign rallies – boasting about his immigration policies and tariffs. Most major TV networks in the US are airing the speech, which was billed as a policy review.

The White House has said Trump will be highlight the administration’s actions during over the past year and revealing priorities for 2026.

But the speech, which Trump will be delivering from the White House Diplomatic Room, comes as the administration is escalating campaign against Venezuela’s dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The president ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. The administration has also struck more than 20 vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean near Venezuela as part what the administration said was an effort to combat drug trafficking in the region.

The US military launched a fresh round of deadly strikes on foreign vessels earlier this week, killing eight people in strikes on Monday.

The US Southern Command posted footage of the strikes on social media then, as well, announcing it had hit three vessels in international waters.

The US has now more than 20 vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean near Venezuela as part of Donald Trump’s escalating campaign in the region, which he has said is targeting drug trafficking. At least 90 people that the administration has said are suspected drug smugglers have been killed.

The US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four men, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth.

In a post on Twitter/X, Hegseth wrote: “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. A total of four male narco-terrorists were killed, and no US military forces were harmed.”

The House of Representatives will be starting their Christmas break a day early, PBS Newshour’s Lisa Desjardins reports. Instead of leaving Washington DC on Friday, lawmakers will begin their departures as early as tomorrow afternoon.

This news comes hours after four Republicans joined with the Democrats to sign a petition forcing a vote on legislation that will extend for three years premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act healthcare plans.

After failing to negotiate a compromise with GOP leaders, the four Republicans opted to sign a discharge petition sponsored by House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries that will compel a vote on the Democrats’ bill.

When asked about her chances of beating JD Vance in a hypothetical presidential race, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she’s confident that she would “stomp” Vance in a presidential race, should the two ever go head-to-head.

In a clip on Twitter/X, reporter Pablo Manríquez asked the congresswoman about a Verasight poll that showed that 51% of people surveyed would choose Ocasio-Cortez over Vance in a 2028 race.

Ocasio-Cortez told Manríquez:

These polls years out are – they are what they are. But let the record show, I would stomp him.

The US department of health and human services (HHS) has terminated several multi-million-dollar grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics following the association’s criticisms of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s policies.

The funding cuts, which affect projects focused on issues including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and early identification of autism, were first reported by the Washington Post and made without prior notice to the AAP.

In a statement to the Guardian, AAP CEO, Mark Del Monte, said: “AAP learned this week that seven grants to AAP under the US Department of Health and Human Services are being terminated.

“This vital work spanned multiple child health priorities, including reducing sudden infant death, rural access to health care, mental health, adolescent health, supporting children with birth defects, early identification of autism, and prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, among other topics.”

Del Monte added: “The sudden withdrawal of these funds will directly impact and potentially harm infants, children, youth, and their families in communities across the United States. AAP is exploring all available options, including legal recourse, in response to these actions.”

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told the Washington Post that the grants were terminated because they no longer align with departmental priorities. The Guardian has contacted HHS for comment.

HHS terminated the funding after noting that the AAP’s materials used what the department characterized as “identity-based language”, including references to racial disparities and the term “pregnant people”, according to administration officials cited by the Washington Post.

One letter terminating a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on birth defects and infant disorders pointed to language in grant materials that are “not aligned with current CDC and HHS priorities”, the paper reported.

Read the full story here:

House Republicans meanwhile have passed a healthcare package that does not include an extension for expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Although moderate Republicans have put pressure on their party leadership to hold a vote on extending the enhanced premium tax credit, GOP refused to bring to the floor bipartisan legislation that would extend the subsidies with reforms.

Amid pressure from constituents who depend on the subsidies to afford healthcare, four moderate Republicans joined a Democratic discharge petition to extend the tax credits for three years – without requiring any changes to the program. That petition will be voted in January, after the holiday recess.

Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, was the only member from his party who joined Democrats in voting against the package on Wednesday.

A federal judge said that the Trump administration cannot stop members of Congress from making unannounced visits to immigrant detention facilities.

This is pending the outcome of lawsuit from twelve Democratic representatives after multiple lawmakers were blocked from entering.

Lawmakers have also been arrested for protesting outside immigration detention centers and facilities, or attempting to enter them.

US district judge Jia Cobb in said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies that deemed immigration field offices “off-limits for congressional oversight” and required seven days’ notice for visits were “contrary to law and in excess of DHS’s statutory authority.”

Lawmakers have insisted on their right to visit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities unannounced, saying that these facilities have historically failed to meet certain standards of safety and hygiene.