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Two days after passing through the Strait of Gibraltar en route to the Caribbean, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has not moved significantly from a position just west of Morocco in North Africa, the Navy confirmed to us Thursday. The flattop and elements of its strike group were ordered by President Donald Trump to join the ongoing enhanced counter-narcotics mission in the region, but it is unclear if plans have changed.

The relatively static position of the Ford and at least two of its escorts comes as reports are emerging that the Trump administration has decided, for now, not to carry out land strikes against Venezuela. It is unknown at the moment if there is a correlation, and the possibility remains that the carrier could still soon sail westward. We have reached out to the White House for clarification.

The Trump administration on Wednesday told Congress it is holding off for now on strikes inside Venezuela out of concern over the legal authority to do so, CNN reported on Thursday. The briefing was conducted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and an official from the White House’s Office of Legal Counsel, the network reported, citing sources familiar with the events.

Lawmakers were told that the authority given to suspected drug boats did not apply to land strikes, the network noted. So far, nearly 70 people have been killed in at least 16 publicly known attacks on vessels allegedly smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific. The most recent acknowledged strike took place on Tuesday. The strikes have garnered heavy criticism for being extrajudicial and carried out without Congressional authorization.

Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO).

Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known… pic.twitter.com/OsQuHrYLMp

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 5, 2025

Asked if the administration is indeed opting against land attacks on Venezuela, at least for now, the White House gave us the following response:

“President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to take on the cartels and stop the scourge of narcoterrorism from killing Americans,” a White House official told us. “The President continues to take actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and pursuant to his constitutional authority. All actions comply fully with the law of armed conflict.” 

CNN’s reporting came after a Wall Street Journal story on Wednesday stating that President Donald Trump “recently expressed reservations to top aides about launching military action to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.”

Trump feared that strikes might not force Maduro to step down, the newspaper noted. Though ostensibly begun as an effort to stem the flow of drugs, it has grown into a massive show of military force aimed partially at Maduro.

The administration is considering three main options for dealing with Maduro, The New York Times reported earlier this week. They include stepping up economic pressure on Venezuela, supporting that nation’s opposition while boosting the U.S. military presence to add pressure on the Venezuelan leader, and initiating airstrikes or covert operations aimed at government and military facilities and personnel.

However, the goal is in flux, administration officials acknowledge, according to the Journal. Meanwhile, Trump has also delivered mixed messages, saying he doubts there will be an attack but that Maduro must go.

What is clear is that there is a massive U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, which includes at least eight surface warships, a special operations mothership, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, F-35B stealth fighters, AC-130 gunships, airlifters, MQ-9 Reaper drones and more than 10,000 troops.

The Ford was supposed to join that force, but if the administration is content for now to hit boats suspected of carrying drugs, it might not make sense to move the carrier and escort ships more than 3,600 miles west, especially as there is high demand elsewhere for American naval presence, including in Europe, where the supercarrier just came from.

The issue of wear and tear on the force is something that the Pentagon will have to evaluate as it decides which assets to keep and which to pull from the Caribbean. Navy vessels began arriving in the region in late August and at some point, they will need relief. That could mean bringing in ships, possibly from other regions. The same can be said for aircraft units and personnel deployed around the region for the operation. Those forces can only remain spun-up for so long, or the operation needs to be adapted for a long-term enhanced presence. This could very well be underway already, although we have not confirmed this as being the case. However, being so close to the U.S. mainland reduces some of those concerns, especially for rotating units in and out.

Regardless of Trump’s intentions, the U.S. military presence continues to endure in the region. Thursday afternoon, two more B-52H strategic bombers flew near the coast of Venezuela, according to online flight trackers. These bomber flights have become something of a routine at this point. In addition, the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock ship USS Fort Lauderdale is once again back in the Caribbean after a pitstop in Florida for routine maintenance.

At 5 p.m., the U.S. Senate is scheduled to hold a floor vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution that would block the use of the U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities within or against Venezuela, unless that action has been authorized by Congress. A similar measure failed several weeks ago and it remains to be seen if news that the administration is holding off on striking Venezuela will move the needle on that resolution.

Meanwhile, we will continue to monitor the progress of the Ford and the U.S. military presence arrayed against Maduro and provide updates when warranted.

Update: 6:07 PM Eastern –

The Senate bipartisan war powers resolution was voted down by a vote of 51 to 49.

Contact the author: [email protected] 

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Tuesday that the federal government owes him “a lot of money” for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insisted he would have the ultimate say on any payout because any decision will “have to go across my desk.”

Trump’s comments to reporters at the White House came in response to questions about a New York Times story that said he had filed administrative claims before being reelected seeking roughly $230 million in damages related to the FBI’s 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago property for classified documents and for a separate investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump said Tuesday he did not know the dollar figures involved and suggested he had not spoken to officials about it. But, he added, “All I know is that, they would owe me a lot of money.”

Though the Justice Department has a protocol for reviewing such claims, Trump asserted, “It’s interesting, ‘cause I’m the one that makes the decision, right?”

“That decision would have to go across my desk,” he added.

He said he could donate any taxpayer money or use it to help pay for a ballroom he’s building at the White House.

The status of the claims and any negotiations over them within the Justice Department was not immediately clear. One of Trump’s lead defense lawyers in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, Todd Blanche, is now the deputy attorney general at the Justice Department. The current associate attorney general, Stanley Woodward, represented Trump’s valet and co-defendant, Walt Nauta, in the same case.

“In any circumstance, all officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials,” a Justice Department spokesperson said. A White House spokesperson referred comment to the Justice Department.

Trump signaled his interest in compensation during a White House appearance last week with Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, who was part of Trump’s legal team during one of the impeachment cases against him.

“I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president, I said: ‘I’m suing myself. I don’t know. How do you settle the lawsuit?’” he said. ”I’ll say, ‘Give me X dollars,’ and I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit. It’s a great lawsuit and now I won, it looks bad. I’m suing myself, so I don’t know.”

The Times said the two claims were filed with the Justice Department as part of a process that seeks to resolve federal complaints through settlements and avert litigation.

One of the administrative claims, filed in August 2024 and reviewed by the Associated Press, seeks compensatory and punitive damages over the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and the resulting case alleging he hoarded classified documents and thwarted government efforts to retrieve them.

His lawyer who filed the claim alleged the case was a “malicious prosecution” carried out by the Biden administration to hurt Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House, forcing Trump to spend tens of millions of dollars in his defense.

That investigation produced criminal charges that Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith abandoned last November because of department policy against the indictment of a sitting president.

The Times said the other complaint seeks damages related to the long-concluded Trump-Russia investigation, which continues to infuriate the president.

Israeli tanks and heavy combat vehicles were filmed in Gaza on Friday, reportedly withdrawing from parts of the enclave as phase one of the ceasefire plan is set to take effect.

Aug. 30 (UPI) — Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., is considering holding a special session of the state legislature to address gun laws following a shooting this week, according to multiple reports.

Walz, 61, is in the process of calling state legislators to gauge reaction to the idea, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

The news comes after two children were killed and 17 people were injured in a shooting during Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis this week.

The suspect, a 23-year-old transgender woman who reportedly previously attended the church school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The two children killed were ages 8 and 10, while 14 of the people injured were also children.

“It’s time to take serious action at the State Capitol to address gun violence,” Walz said on X this week.

The governor has yet to officially comment on the reports of a potential special legislative session.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has been vocal in his support for changes to the state’s gun laws.

“We need action … to make sure everyone has this common foundation of safety. Let’s stop this from happening,” Frey, a Democrat, said in a video on X.

“I think we’d be happy to ban assault rifles here in Minneapolis,” he said in an interview.

Police confirmed this week the rifle, shotgun and pistol carried by suspected shooter Robin Westman were all obtained legally.

Walz is dealing with the tragedy only two months after a pair of state lawmakers and their spouses were shot — two fatally — in a politically-motivated attack.

AT LEAST 20 people were reportedly killed yesterday in an Israeli air strike on a Gaza hospital.

Five of the dead were reportedly working as journalists for international news agencies.

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They included Mariam Dagga, 33, who was a freelancer working for Associated Press.

Reuters said cameraman Hussam al-Masri was also killed alongside Moaz Abu Taha, who had worked “occasionally” for the news agency.

Witnesses said they were killed in two separate strikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: “I would like to be clear from the start – the IDF does not intentionally target civilians.

“The Chief of the General Staff has instructed that an inquiry be conducted immediately to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened.

“We regret any harm to uninvolved individuals and are committed to continue fighting Hamas, while taking all the necessary precautions.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “Civilians, healthcare workers and journalists must be protected.

“We need an immediate ceasefire.”

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “deeply regrets” the “tragic mishap” that took place at Nasser hospital and that the military were conducting a thorough investigation into what happened.

The Israeli PM said: “Israel deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza.

“Israel values the work of journalists, medical staff, and all civilians. The military authorities are conducting a thorough investigation.

“Our war is with Hamas terrorists. Our just goals are defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home.”

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The BBC has launched an investigation into alleged drug use by two Strictly Come Dancing stars, it has been reported.

The Sun on Sunday claimed that the cocaine use by the stars – who have not been named – was widely talked about on the show.

It added that the corporation had hired law firm Pinsent Masons to lead the probe.

The BBC said it had “clear protocols and policies in place” for dealing with any serious complaints raised with it.

According to the newspaper, the claims of alleged drug use were made in a legal submission to the BBC in March by law firm Russells on behalf of a former celebrity contestant.

The Sun claims others had also reported allegations of drug taking on the show to the BBC.

In a statement on Saturday night, a BBC spokesperson added: “We would always encourage people to speak to us if they have concerns.

“It would not be appropriate for us to comment further.”

It is understood that it is not unusual for the corporation to appoint external law firms to help it deliver BBC-led investigations. In these cases, they would report back to an internal team.

Strictly, which has been airing since 2004, has faced multiple controversies over the past year relating to the behaviour of some of its professional dancers and celebrity guests.

Professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima left the show last year following allegations about their behaviour towards their dance partners.

The BBC announced new welfare measures for Strictly last July. These include having chaperones in all rehearsal rooms, adding two new welfare producers and providing additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew.

In January, Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans, who had been a celebrity dancer in last year’s series, made what he described as an “inappropriate and unacceptable” comment during the Strictly live tour launch.

He took time off from his BBC Radio Wales daytime show after the incident, and the BBC said in May that he will not be returning to it.

EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick was suspended by the BBC last month after The Sun reported that he used a slur against people with disabilities while backstage during Strictly rehearsals in November. Borthwick apologised and the BBC said his language was “entirely unacceptable”.

July 11 (UPI) — Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files has FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino contemplating resigning from his position, according to several news reports.

Bongino and Bondi clashed over the matter earlier this week after she said there is no list of client names to be made publicly available, CNN reported on Friday.

The clash occurred at the White House on Wednesday after Bondi also said evidence confirms Epstein committed suicide and was not murdered while jailed in New York City in 2019.

Unnamed sources told Fox News, Axios and CNN that Bongino has said he might resign due to the conflict and has not been in his office since Wednesday.

Bondi, though, has said she won’t resign, and FBI Director Kash Patel, likewise, intends to stay with the federal law enforcement agency.

“President Donald Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law-and-order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable and delivering justice to victims,” White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told Fox News.

“Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all,” Fields said.

Epstein was a financier and a convicted sex offender who was found dead inside a New York Metropolitan Correctional Center jail cell while awaiting trial on federal charges in August 2019.

He was pronounced dead of suicide after being taken to a nearby hospital.

Trump said he might release the information from files while campaigning in 2024, and Bondi suggested she would release information after becoming the nation’s attorney general.

The Justice Department on Monday announced there is no client list and no evidence that he was killed.

Reports of conflict between the Justice Department and the FBI are false, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday in a post on X.

TikTok is preparing to release a new app in the U.S. as it awaits a potential sale that would maintain its presence for millions of users in the country, according to media reports.

The popular video app, owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, is under pressure to sell its U.S. operations by Sept. 17 or face a nationwide ban, due to security concerns raised by U.S. government officials over the firm’s ties to China.

TikTok is planning to make the new app available on Sept. 5, according to tech news site The Information. The existing app could stop working in March 2026 and when that happens, American users would need to download the new app in order to continue to use TikTok, the publication said.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.

Analysts expect that the new app will attempt to address the government’s security concerns. Officials have raised the specter of TikTok sharing user data with the Chinese government, which the company denies.

Ray Wang, principal analyst and founder of Constellation Research, said he believes TikTok will remain popular in the U.S. even after a sale. TikTok is used by more than 170 million Americans as a way to entertain and educate themselves by watching videos on the app. Small businesses, influencers and major corporations also post content on TikTok to market products.

“There will be a transition period from the old app to the new app,” Wang said. “The question is how will data be migrated, and I’m sure they will have a solution for that.”

President Trump last month gave a 90-day extension until Sept. 17 to ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations. The original deadline was Jan. 19, after a law was signed by Trump’s predecessor, President Biden, last year, but the deadline has since been extended by Trump several times. TikTok has said that the law “offers no support for the idea” that its Chinese ownership poses national security risks.

Potential buyers of ByteDance’s TikTok U.S. operations include Oracle Corp. (co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison), Amazon and an investment group led by Frank McCourt, a former Dodgers owner whose bid includes “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, analysts said. San Francisco artificial intelligence company Perplexity said in March that it wants to “rebuild the TikTok algorithm.”

Any deal would need the approval of the Chinese government. Analysts said it is unlikely a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations would include its algorithm — seen as one of the most valuable parts of TikTok — which surfaces videos of interest to its users.

Trump on Friday told reporters that he planned to discuss a TikTok deal with China this week, but declined to name the potential buyer, according to the New York Times.

“I think the deal is good for China, and it’s good for us,” Trump said. “It’s money, it’s a lot of money.”

Trump’s first administration pushed for a TikTok ban, but the president since had a change of heart. He has met with TikTok executives at Mar-a-Lago, mused about TikTok’s popularity with young people and bragged online about his significant following on the platform.

During his campaign for a second term, Trump positioned himself as a TikTok advocate, saying “those who want to save TikTok in America, vote for Trump.”

Several TikTok creators told The Times that they have diversified where they post their content and believe their fans will follow them to other platforms if TikTok were to be banned.

The version of “Elio” that hit theaters on June 20 is not the same movie that Adrian Molina, the film’s original director, intended to put out.

Pixar removed LGBTQ+ elements from the animated feature after receiving negative feedback from test screenings with audience members and executives, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The film follows an 11-year-old boy named Elio who is mistaken for Earth’s ambassador by aliens and is beamed up to the Communiverse — an intergalactic organization — to represent the planet.

Trouble began in the summer of 2023 during a test screening in Arizona. After the film was over, audience members were asked to raise their hand if the movies was something they’d pay to see in theaters. No one did, causing Pixar executives to worry.

According to THR, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter informed Molina after a separate screening for company executives that storyboard artist Madeline Sharafian would be promoted to co-director. Molina, who is gay, was given the option to co-direct the film with Sharafian but chose to exit the project instead after his original vision was changed. Shortly after, Docter announced internally that “Turning Red” director and co-writer Domee Shi would join “Elio” as co-director.

Changes to the film included getting rid of a scene in which Elio shows off a pink tank top made out of beach litter to a hermit crab, as well as removing picture frames from Elio’s bedroom wall that displayed a male crush. Executives also asked him to make the main character more “masculine.”

“I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, who was a member of the company’s internal LGBTQ+ group and provided feedback during the production of “Elio,” told THR.

Ligatich added that a number of creatives working behind the scenes left after the new directors went in a different direction.

“The exodus of talent after that cut was really indicative of how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work,” she said.

Actor America Ferrera was originally attached to the project as the voice of Elio’s mother, Olga. Following Molina’s departure, the “Barbie” actor left the production because the film lacked “Latinx representation in the leadership.” The character was later changed to be Elio’s aunt and was voiced by Zoe Saldaña.

In March 2025, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger announced Molina would return as co-director for “Coco 2,” a follow-up to the 2017 film he co-wrote and co-directed.

“Elio” earned Pixar its worst domestic opening after it premiered on June 20. he film made $21 million at the box office and currently holds a “fresh” 83% critics rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes.

“The Elio that is in theaters right now is far worse than Adrian’s best version of the original,” a former Pixar staffer who worked on the film told THR.

“[The character] Elio was just so cute and so much fun and had so much personality, and now he feels much more generic to me,” added another Pixar staffer.

In a 2018 interview with the Huffington Post, Molina said he was “all for it” when asked what it would take for an animated studio to green light a story with a queer protagonist.

The Times reached out to Pixar for comment, but the studio did not respond.

California leaders denounced reports Tuesday that the Trump administration is preparing to strip the name of slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk from a naval ship honoring his legacy, calling it a slap in the face for the LGBTQ+ community just as Pride month begins.

Milk was elected as a San Francisco supervisor in the 1970s, becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in the country. After he was assassinated in San Francisco City Hall in 1978, he became an icon of the gay rights movement, with images of his face becoming synonymous with the struggle for gay rights.

Milk had served in the Navy prior to becoming an activist and political figure, and LGBTQ+ advocates and service members fought for years to have his legacy formally recognized by the Navy.

The outlet Military.com first reported Tuesday afternoon that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, an oiler built in San Diego as part of a series of vessels named for civil rights leaders. It was launched in 2021.

The Pentagon would not confirm or deny that the ship would be renamed.

In a statement to The Times, chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth “is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all [Department of Defense] installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, our nation’s history, and the warrior ethos,” and that “any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.”

The Pentagon would not say whether such a review had been launched for the USNS Harvey Milk. The Navy referred questions to the Pentagon.

The removal of Milk’s name would be in line with a broader push by Hegseth and other leaders in the Trump administration to remove formal acknowledgments of queer rights and other programs or messages promoting diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government.

Leaders in California — where Milk is often hailed as a hero — were quick to denounce the idea of stripping his name from the vessel.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on the social media platform X that Trump’s “assault on veterans has hit a new low.”

San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk speaks to reporters in October 1978, weeks before he was assassinated.

(James Palmer / Associated Press)

Trump and Hegseth have also issued a sweeping ban on transgender people serving in the military.

“Harvey Milk wasn’t just a civil rights icon — he was a Korean War combat veteran whose commander called him ‘outstanding,’” Newsom said. “Stripping his name from a Navy ship won’t erase his legacy as an American icon, but it does reveal Trump’s contempt for the very values our veterans fight to protect.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) echoed Newsom with her own comment on X.

“Our military is the most powerful in the world — but this spiteful move does not strengthen our national security or the ‘warrior’ ethos,” she wrote. “It is a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream.”

State Sen. Scott Wiener, who is gay and once represented the same district as Milk on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said in an interview with The Times that the move was all “part of Trump’s systematic campaign to eliminate LGBTQ people from public life.”

“They want us to go away, to go back in the closet, not to be part of public life,” Wiener said. “And we’re not going anywhere.”

After graduating from college, Milk enlisted in the Navy in 1951 and was stationed in San Diego. According to the Harvey Milk Foundation, he resigned at the rank of lieutenant junior grade in 1955 “after being officially questioned about his sexual orientation.”

He moved to San Francisco in 1972, opened a camera shop on Castro Street, and quickly got into politics — rallying the growing local gay community to fight for rights and build strategic alliances with other groups, including organized labor and the city’s large Asian and Pacific Islander community.

Milk was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1977, and helped lead efforts to defeat a 1978 ballot initiative that would have barred gay and lesbian people from teaching in public schools statewide — a major political win for the LGBTQ+ community.

That same year, Milk was assassinated alongside Mayor George Moscone at City Hall by former Supervisor Dan White. His killing cemented his status as an icon of the gay rights movement.

Wiener called Milk “an absolute hero” who “died for our community” and deserves the honor of having a naval vessel named after him.

“A group of LGBTQ veterans worked for years and years to achieve this goal of naming a ship for Harvey, and to have that taken away so casually, right during Pride month, is heartbreaking and painful,” Wiener said.

Removing his name would mean more than scrubbing a stenciling off the side of a ship, Wiener said, “especially now with the attacks on our community, and so many young LGBTQ people [seeing] so much negativity towards our community.”

Milk was a “very visible role model for young queer people, and he gave people hope in a way that hadn’t happened before from any high-profile queer leader, and he was murdered because of his visibility and leadership for our community,” Wiener said, and for young queer people today “to see the name of a gay man on the side of a military vessel, it’s very, very powerful.”

U.S. officials first announced in 2016 that a ship would be named for Milk, as well as for abolitionist Sojourner Truth, Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren, Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy, suffragist Lucy Stone and U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

At an event marking the start of construction on the ship in 2019, Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk said the naming of the ship after his uncle “sends a global message of inclusion” that did not just say the U.S. will “tolerate everyone,” but that “we celebrate everyone.”

WASHINGTON — Fired White House aide Lt. Col. Oliver L. North confessed last year that he attempted to destroy every official document that could have revealed the diversion of Iran arms sale profits to the contras– but that he missed one, former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane said Monday.

McFarlane told the House and Senate investigating committees that North realized last November, as the Reagan Administration’s secret arms deals with Iran began to unravel, that the diversion of money to Nicaragua’s rebels could damage President Reagan if it were revealed.

Before other officials discovered the diversion, North told him that he planned to hold a “shredding party” to destroy the evidence, McFarlane said.

“He thought that the President was in a very solid position, and that there was only one matter that concerned him–and it was the matter of the channeling of funds to the contras,” he said.

“What did he tell you about a shredding party?” asked Arthur L. Liman, chief counsel for the Senate select committee on the scandal.

“Just that there had to be one,” McFarlane answered.

Later, after Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III publicly disclosed the diversion of funds and Reagan abruptly fired North, McFarlane said he telephoned North and asked him what had gone wrong.

“Ollie, it was approved, wasn’t it?” McFarlane quoted himself as asking.

“Yes, Bud, it was approved. You know I wouldn’t do anything that wasn’t approved,” North replied, according to McFarlane.

“Then don’t worry,” McFarlane said. “You did the right thing. Just tell it like it was.”

McFarlane then asked North how the diversion had been discovered.

“They must have found the memo,” he quoted North as saying.

“Did he say, ‘I missed one’?” Liman asked.

“Yes,” McFarlane answered.

‘Residual Funds’

The document that disclosed the diversion was a memo that North wrote in April, 1986, proposing a sale of weapons to Iran to generate $12 million in “residual funds” for the contras.

The memo was discovered by Justice Department officials who searched the National Security Council files on Nov. 22–one day after North and his secretary, Fawn Hall, destroyed thousands of other documents in North’s office, according to knowledgeable sources.

Hall has already told investigators that North ordered her to shred some documents and to alter others, the sources have said. McFarlane’s testimony corroborated the secretary’s account and appeared to strengthen any possible criminal case against North for obstructing justice through destroying the evidence.

Approved by Poindexter

McFarlane said he did not ask North who had approved the diversion of funds to the contras. McFarlane had left the government in December, 1985, before the diversion occurred, but his successor, Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, who was North’s boss, has acknowledged approving the diversion, according to the presidentially appointed Tower Commission. Reagan has denied giving his approval.

McFarlane said he did not mention the diversion or North’s reference to a “shredding party” to anyone else–even though he was interviewed about the scandal by Meese on Nov. 21, hours before North and Hall destroyed the documents.

“(Meese) was asking the questions,” McFarlane explained. “Perhaps it was something I should have told him. We discussed it two days later”–after the documents had been destroyed.

Exceeded Orders

McFarlane described North as a man who “ran very far with the ball” and sometimes exceeded orders in carrying out a mission.

He said North had devised several potentially illegal schemes for funding the contras, written “lurid” memos to promote his proposals and sometimes misrepresented his own wishes as coming from McFarlane or Reagan himself.

North “always responded to firm guidance,” McFarlane said, but also would “probably, on occasion, go beyond. I could foresee that.”

In 1985, North told McFarlane that he had not solicited any private funds for the contras–an assertion that has since been proven false. But on the basis of North’s promises, McFarlane personally assured Congress that the NSC staff was not soliciting aid.

‘More Probing’ Needed

“Looking back, I think that . . . suspicions that I had ought to have led me to be more probing,” a chastened McFarlane admitted.

But McFarlane still had warm words for his former protege. “I thought surely Ollie was probably the most mission-oriented, can-do professional on the staff,” he said.

In 1986, McFarlane wrote to North: “If the world only knew how many times you have kept a semblance of gumption and integrity to U.S. policy, they would make you secretary of state.”

When asked about that message Monday, McFarlane appeared to wince.

“Some of these communications were to build morale,” he said. “It involves a certain amount of hyperbole.”

May 24 (UPI) — Dozens of employees were reportedly relieved from their positions with the National Security Council, with an eye towards downsizing the agency’s workforce.

Over 100 staffers received a memo earlier this week from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, informing them they were being put on administrative leave, CNN reported, citing two official sources.

The NSC staff members were not given any warning before being placed on leave, the Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The decision was made by President Donald Trump after it was suggested by Rubio, The Post reported. Rubio also serves as a interim national security advisor to the president.

Trump fired his previous national security advisor Mike Waltz earlier this month, tabbing Rubio as an interim replacement. Waltz was later nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Since taking the second role, Rubio has favored reducing NSC staffing levels, Politico reported, with a plan of reducing the total workforce from around 350 people to a figure closer to 150.

“The right-sizing of the NSC is in line with its original purpose and the president’s vision,” Rubio said in a statement to Axios.

“The NSC will now be better positioned to collaborate with agencies.”

A White House official told Axios the NSC staff cuts were aimed at combating the “Deep State” within the agency. Another official told Axios it is Trump’s wish to keep Rubio as interim national security advisor “as long as possible.”

Early last month, the Trump administration fired a number of senior NSC advisors. The move came shortly after the president met with far-right podcaster Laura Loomer, although it’s unclear if the moves were related.

May 23 (UPI) — A prisoner swap is underway Friday between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian officials said.

The swap, involving 1,000 prisoners from each side, began on Friday and was not yet completed, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, The Kyiv Independent and CNN reported.

The process of exchanging the prisoners is expected to take several days, CNN reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump, however posted on his Truth Social account Friday that the swap had been completed.

“A major prisoners swap was just completed between Russia and Ukraine. It will go into effect shortly,” Trump said. “Congratulations to both sides on this negotiation. This could lead to something big?”

A source familiar with the matter, however, told The Kyiv Independent the swap was still ongoing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted to social media Thursday that the prisoner swap “was perhaps the only tangible result of the meeting in Turkey.”

“We are working to ensure that this result is achieved,” he wrote.

The two sides met last week in Istanbul and Zelensky continued that Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov is involved with the “organization of the process and the implementation of the agreement,” but several other prominent members of the Ukrainian government have also taken part in the process.

Zelensky also added that his team is “clarifying the details for each individual included on the lists submitted by the Russian side.

“Returning all of our people from Russian captivity is one of Ukraine’s key objectives,” he said.

He also posted Monday that “the most significant outcome of the meetings [in Turkey] was the agreement to conduct a prisoner exchange in a 1,000-for-1,000 format.”

Additionally, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War had announced on Telegram last week that Russia had returned the bodies of 909 Ukrainian soldiers.