Seizing Tankers as Economic Pressure

In this episode, Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer cover:

- The fast-escalating U.S. pressure campaign against the Maduro regime in Venezuela — including the growing American military buildup and Trump’s post calling Venezuela a “foreign terrorist organization.”

- President Trump’s decision to allow the sale of Nvidia’s advanced H200 AI chips to China — announced on the same day that the DOJ called the chip a cornerstone of “AI superiority.”

- A Red Team/Blue Team exercise on the U.S.-backed peace proposal for the Ukraine–Russia war, with Jake and Jon stepping into the roles of advisers to Zelensky and Putin.

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Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available here.

Watch the video of this episode on Youtube.

REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS: 

- Interview with Christopher Fouqet “Bloomberg Talks: Christophe Fouqet,” December 12, 2025.

“U.S. authorities shut down major China-linked AI tech smuggling network,” Department of Justice Press Release, December 8, 2025.

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