South Harz Potash Limited (SHP:AU) has announced SHP Secures 25km Copper-Gold Corridor in Sweden
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Metals Australia (MLS:AU) has announced High Copper Anomalies Show Deeper Potential at Warrego East
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The oil and gas market was punctuated with volatility in 2025.
Oil prices softened as supply outpaced demand and inventories built. Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped in late 2025, with Brent dipping below US$60 per barrel and WTI hovering at US$55.
Production increases from non-OPEC producers — including record US output — and higher OPEC+ quotas have contributed to a notable supply overhang, pressuring crude toward four year lows.
Starting the year above US$70, both Brent and WTI prices have now seen steep declines of more than 20 percent amid signs of weaker demand in major economies like China and elevated global stocks.
Meanwhile, the natural gas market saw price shifts driven by weather and storage dynamics.
Prices started the year at US$3.64 per million British thermal units and slipped to a seasonal low of US$2.74 in August. Values peaked at US$5.31 on December 5, and have since retreated to the US$3.94 level.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its outlook for late 2025 and early 2026 gas prices after an early cold snap bolstered heating demand, even as forecasts have moderated Henry Hub projections for 2025 to 2026.
Oil market battles persistent headwinds
2025 saw oil prices fluctuate between highs of US$81.86 (Brent) and US$78.99 (WTI) and lows of US$59.41 and US$55.56, respectively, as the energy market served as a barometer of global political and trade tensions.
“Throughout the year, prices have continued the downtrend they began in April (2024) as OPEC+ continued to hike output and China’s economy continued to struggle under the weight of a flailing property sector, downbeat consumer confidence, overindebted local governments and flagging external demand,” he added.
While the oil market isn’t new to volatility, this year proved different as US President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs infused global uncertainty into the energy market.
“We can see that Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs pushed prices down to a level from which they’ve not recovered from, barring a spike in June as a result of the 12 day Iran-Israel war,” said Cunningham.
“Since then, Brent crude oil prices have continued to fall as OPEC+ caught the market off guard with its aggressive output hikes, which were designed to win back market share from non-cartel producers.’
Demand growth, underinvestment reshape oil outlook
Meanwhile, OPEC is approaching full production capacity, with Saudi Arabia being the main exception.
“Even though people are talking about lots of supply, demand is still growing,” Schachter said, noting that global oil demand rose roughly 1.3 million barrels per day in 2025 and is expected to increase by about 1.2 million in 2026.
New supply additions are limited, he explained, mentioning Guyana’s offshore discoveries by ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), some output from Brazil and minor contributions from Canada.
“Most basins are tired, and not enough money is being spent to bring on production,” Schachter said, predicting that global inventory drawdowns in 2026 will support higher prices.
Despite lack of investment at the exploration level, FocusEconomics panelists are forecasting a rise in both oil and gas supply in 2026 fueled by output growth at existing operations.
Cunningham pointed to organizations like the EIA and International Energy Agency (IEA), which “hiked their forecasts in recent months in response to OPEC+ increasing output unexpectedly fast and the recent surge in demand for US LNG.”
“The real question is not if oil and gas production will increase, but by how much,” said Cunningham.
A ramp up could be curtailed by geopolitical disruptions, he went on to note.
“Recent frictions between members of the OPEC+ cartel will persist, with Russia likely to favor lower production levels given US sanctions and countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates eager to push production higher given their excess capacity and desire to win back market share from non-OPEC+ producers,” he said.
“Moreover, countries like Kazakhstan and Iraq continue to overshoot their quotas, and in late 2023 Angola left the cartel due to disputes over its allowed production level.”
Transport and petrochemicals driving oil demand
Global oil demand is expected to rise in 2026, driven primarily by transportation fuels and petrochemical feedstocks.
Gasoline is projected to lead the increase, supported by recovering air travel and road mobility, while diesel and other products also contribute. Non-OECD regions, particularly China and India, will account for most of the growth, with expanding petrochemical capacity in major economies boosting crude-derived feedstock demand.
Overall, transport and industrial activity remain the key engines behind the expected rise in oil consumption.
“Our panelists see world oil production rising 1.1 percent in 2026 as non-OPEC+ countries such as Guyana and the US hike output,” said FocusEconomics’ Cunningham.
LNG expansion fuels gas growth
Similar to the trajectory for oil, natural gas demand is expected to rise in 2026 as global consumption rebounds and LNG exports expand sharply. “The IEA (is) estimating growth at around 2 percent with consumption at an all-time high on higher demand in the industrial and electricity sectors,” said Cunningham.
Rising LNG supply — with new export capacity coming online in the US, Canada and Qatar — is projected to support stronger import growth, particularly in Asia, where demand is expected to rebound after a 2025 slowdown.
“Asia is hungry for LNG; the IEA estimates the region’s natural gas demand will rise over 4 percent in 2026, with LNG imports up by 10 percent,” the expert said. Increased use of natural gas in power generation and industrial sectors will also contribute to growth, helping push global gas demand toward a new peak next year.
“Of course, these forecasts could change quickly if the world economy or the oil and gas sector is subject to further shocks, which is why we recommend regularly checking the latest forecasts that are available,” Cunningham added.
Further ahead, Schachter argued that rising global power needs will underpin long-term demand for natural gas, particularly as alternatives struggle to scale. Aging power grids are another constraint. Much of the world’s electricity infrastructure has not been meaningfully upgraded, and expanding capacity will require major investment in transmission — driving demand for copper, steel and aluminum alongside new generation.
Against that backdrop, Schachter sees LNG as central to meeting near- and medium-term power needs.
“The demand for LNG is the story,” he said, adding that natural gas is increasingly viewed not as a temporary transition fuel, but as “the most efficient, from a climate and environmental point of view.”
He also highlighted Canada’s advantage as producers invest heavily in emissions-reduction technologies, including methane mitigation. That positioning could make Canadian LNG more attractive to import-dependent nations such as Japan and South Korea.
While new supply from Qatar and the US will add capacity, Schachter cautioned that LNG development is rarely linear, pointing to Canada’s decades-long path to its first operating export terminal. Despite inevitable delays and short-term imbalances, he said the long-term outlook remains clear: “The industry’s fundamentals are very, very positive.”
Cunningham also pointed to increased output from the US and Qatar as key areas to watch in 2026.
“The big Qatari and US LNG projects will help natural gas prices converge globally — our Consensus Forecast is for the percentage difference between US gas prices (which tend to be lower due to huge domestic production) and those in Asia and Europe to ease to the lowest level since 2020, the year the pandemic sent gas demand plummeting,” said Cunningham, adding, “In short, record US LNG shipments will send up prices at home and lower them abroad.”
Cunningham went on to explain that unlike oil, in the natural gas market there tends to be more price divergence between regions as natural gas is harder to transport over large distances. Oil can be poured into a barrel and shipped, whereas natural gas first needs to be liquified if it’s to be sent overseas. Greater LNG capacity will help bridge this gap.
Oil and gas price forecast for 2026
Schachter expects WTI to average over US$70 in 2026, with Brent around US$73 to US$74.
He anticipates some volatility early in the new year, saying that in Q1 he expects trading to be “still sloppy between US$56 and US$66,” before prices rise in Q2 to US$62 to US$72. From there, he sees prices reaching US$68 to US$78 in the year’s third quarter as inventories tighten and market fundamentals assert themselves.
“People think we’re going back to US$80 today. US$58 oil — it ain’t going to US$80. But when the industry is in rational supply and demand, prices climb, especially when inventories draw down quickly,” Schachter said, recalling the 2008 peak in oil prices near US$147 during extreme supply shortages.
Looking at the year ahead, FocusEconomics expects the trends of 2025 to continue.
“Average Brent crude oil prices will ease further to a post-pandemic low, while US natural gas prices will increase to the highest average level since 2014 barring 2022’s Russia-Ukraine-war-driven spike,” said Cunningham.
“OPEC+ is set to continue raising output — after a pause in Q1 2026 — and the global economy should slow as the boost from export front-loading ahead of US tariff wanes.”
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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The uranium market moved through 2025 with less drama than the previous year, but the quieter tone masked a sector still tightening beneath the surface.
After 2024’s surge to two-decade highs, in 2025, U3O8 prices traded in a narrower US$20 range in 2025, slipping to a low of US$63.71 in March before climbing back toward the mid-US$80s by late September.
In December, spot prices had settled near US$75, a level that has acted as a floor since late summer.
Despite the muted price action, uranium’s underlying drivers strengthened. Long-term demand projections, renewed government backing for nuclear power and rising concerns over supply security all helped support the market.
Investor appetite also played a defining role. Continued buying from the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT) (TSX:U.U,OTCQX:SRUUF) and retail investors added steady pressure to the spot market, absorbing millions of pounds of material and lifting prices above where utility demand alone would have placed them.
While true supply shortages did not materialize in 2025, production interruptions and operational uncertainties at major mines made sellers more cautious and prompted utilities to top up inventories more aggressively. The result was a market that remained fundamentally tight, while uranium equities continued to outperform on the strength of a durable, long-term bull thesis.
Against this backdrop, we profile the five best-performing Canadian uranium stocks by share price performance below.
All data was obtained on December 15, 2025, using TradingView’s stock screener. Uranium companies on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps above C$10 million at that time were considered. Read on to learn about the top Canadian uranium stocks in 2025, including what factors have been moving their share prices.
1. North Shore Uranium (TSXV:NSU)
Year-to-date gain: 637.5 percent
Market cap: C$22.17 million
Share price: C$0.295
North Shore Uranium is an exploration company focused on advancing uranium assets in established North American districts. Its core projects include the Falcon and West Bear properties along the eastern margin of Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin in Canada, complemented by a growing presence in the Grants uranium district of New Mexico, US.
The company is also evaluating additional exploration opportunities in the United States and Canada as it builds a diversified uranium project portfolio.
In June, North Shore penned a binding term sheet to acquire an up to 87.5 percent interest in the Rio Puerco uranium project in Northwest New Mexico from Resurrection Mining. The project hosts a historical inferred mineral resource estimate, released in 2009, of approximately 11.4 million pounds of U3O8 from 6 million metric tons of ore grading 0.09 percent U3O8 equivalent.
Subsequently, on August 28, the company officially entered into a definitive option agreement for the acquisition and closed a C$1.4 million private placement. On September 11, the company announced it staked 27 additional mining claims at the Rio Puerco project, bolstering its holdings in the area to 64 adjoining Bureau of Land Management claims.
As for its projects in Canada, in an October press release North Shore announced the completion of a prospecting program at its Falcon property, during which crews evaluated 18 priority targets for surface expression and anomalous radioactivity, collecting samples to support further exploration.
Later in the month, North Shore fulfilled its final earn-in requirement at the West Bear property, issuing C$50,000 shares to Gem Oil to secure the right to acquire a 75 percent interest in the project.
Shares of North Shore Uranium rose to a year-to-date high of C$0.29 on December 15, a few days after the company launched a C$3 million private placement on December 11.
Looking ahead, the company is planning a drill program at the Rio Puerco uranium project during H1 2026.
2. Energy Fuels (TSX:EFR)
Year-to-date gain: 156.12 percent
Market cap: C$4.76 billion
Share price: C$19.26
US-based uranium producer Energy Fuels has a large portfolio of conventional and in-situ recovery (ISR) projects across the Western US, including Pinyon Plain in Arizona, a top national producer.
Additionally, Energy Fuels owns and operates the White Mesa mill, the only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium mill in the US. The company is progressing heavy rare earth oxide processing at the plant as well.
Company shares reached a year-to-date high of C$36.84 on October 14, 11 days after Energy Fuels closed its US$700 million offering of 0.75 percent convertible senior notes due 2031, which was upsized after initial purchasers exercised their option to purchase a further US$100 million in notes.
In a Q3 report released on November 3, the company underscored a rise in uranium sales, as its low-cost US production continued to outperform, putting the miner on track to exceed its 2025 guidance.
The firm also advanced its rare earth ambitions, producing 29 kilograms of dysprosium oxide in pilot runs through September, with terbium oxide next in line.
The October US$700 million convertible note offering strengthened the balance sheet, lifting working capital to nearly US$1 billion and raising the effective conversion price to US$30.70 per share.
3. Stallion Uranium (TSXV:STUD)
Year-to-date gain: 150 percent
Market cap: C$49.57 million
Share price: C$0.375
Uranium junior Stallion Uranium holds a 2,870 square kilometer land package on the western side of the Athabasca Basin, in Saskatchewan, Canada, including a joint venture with Atha Energy (TSXV:SASK,OTCQB:SASKF) for the largest contiguous project in the region. The company’s primary focus is the Coyote target at the Moonlite project.
Stallion’s share price shot upward on July 8 after the company announced a technology data acquisition agreement for Matchstick TI, an intelligent geological target identification platform with 77 percent accuracy. Stallion plans to use the technology to enhance its exploration efforts. It closed the acquisition on November 12.
In early September, Stallion Uranium closed the final tranche of a non-brokered private placement, raising gross proceeds of C$10.49 million. The financing included 22.3 million non-flow-through units and 30.1 million flow-through units, both priced at $0.20 per unit.
Stallion’s shares registered a year-to-date high of C$0.51 on September 16.
According to an October statement, Stallion planned to start a high-resolution ground time domain electromagnetic survey on Coyote on November 1, but it has not yet released a further update on the survey.
The company announced a further private placement on December 12, this one consisting of flow-through shares for gross proceeds of C$4.55 million at a price of C$0.45 per share.
4. District Metals (TSXV:DMX)
Year-to-date gains: 139.51 percent
Market cap: C$165.24 million
Share price: C$0.97
District Metals is an energy metals and polymetallic explorer and developer with a portfolio of seven assets in Sweden, including four uranium projects: Viken, Ardnasvarre, Sågtjärn and Nianfors. Currently, District is focused on its Viken uranium-vanadium project, which it says hosts the world’s largest undeveloped uranium deposit.
Shares began trending upwards in mid-May following news of a fully subscribed C$6 million private placement.
District spent 2025 advancing its four uranium projects through a series of targeted surveys. A helicopter-borne mobile magnetotellurics (MobileMT) program wrapped up at the flagship Viken property in June, followed by drone-based radiometric and magnetic surveys at Ardnasvarre, Sågtjärn and Nianfors in July.
Early September results at Sågtjärn and Nianfors were strong enough for the company to seek expanded licenses. Later that month, new MobileMT data from Viken revealed large low-resistivity anomalies both within and beyond the known deposit footprint, pointing to potential for additional uranium deposits.
Shares of District rallied to a year-to-date high of C$1.53 on October 15, the day the company released the results of its radiometric and magnetic survey at the Ardnasvarre property, which identified strong and large anomalies associated with uranium polymetallic occurrences.
District also reported fresh momentum at its alum shale properties after completing airborne MobileMT surveys across the Österkälen, Tåsjö and Malgomaj licenses this summer.
The first batch of results, released in late October, outlined a significant new geophysical anomaly at its wholly owned Österkälen license. District has already applied for an adjacent mineral license to capture the anomaly’s northwestern extension. The Österkälen area lies roughly 100 kilometers northeast of the company’s flagship Viken property.
In subsequent announcements, District reported the discovery of high priority targets at the Tåsjö alum shale property, and of large, robust targets at the Malgomaj alum shale property, both of which led the company to file applications for adjacent mineral licenses.
In early November, District Metals welcomed a landmark decision in Sweden when Parliament voted to repeal the country’s 2018 moratorium on uranium exploration and mining.
The new legislation, set to take effect January 1, 2026, opens the door for renewed development in a nation that holds roughly 27 percent of Europe’s known uranium resources.
5. Purepoint Uranium (TSXV:PTU)
Year-to-date gain: 113.64 percent
Market cap: C$38.01 million
Share price: C$0.47
Exploration company Purepoint Uranium has an extensive uranium portfolio including six joint ventures and five wholly owned projects, all located in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin.
In January, Purepoint strengthened its relationship with IsoEnergy (TSX:ISO,NYSEAMERICAN:ISOU) when the latter exercised its put option under the framework of a previously announced joint-venture agreement, transferring 10 percent of its stake to Purepoint in exchange for 4 million shares. The now 50/50 joint venture will explore 10 uranium projects across 98,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin, including the Dorado project.
As for Q3, the company closed the final tranche of a C$6 million private placement on September 5.
Later in the month, Purepoint released partial assay results from the Dorado project for one hole from its 11 hole drill program. The drill hole returned the most significant intervals to date, according to the company, with one interval of 2.1 meters grading 1.6 percent U3O8, including 0.4 meters at 8.1 percent, as well as another interval of 4.9 meters at 0.52 percent. The company has since dubbed this the Nova discovery
Purepoint ended September by launching its inaugural drill program at the Tabbernor project, located on the southeastern edge of the basin. The program, which concluded in November, targeted a 60 kilometer long corridor of graphitic conductors with five first-pass diamond drill holes. The Tabbernor findings will be combined with the company’s ongoing regional interpretation work to prioritize next targets.
Shares of Purepoint registered a year-to-date high of C$0.80 on October 14 as uranium prices rose.
In early December, Purepoint and IsoEnergy approved an expanded 2026 exploration program at the Dorado project following the previously released strong drill results, which Purepoint said confirm ‘a steeply dipping, uranium-bearing structure that remains open in all directions.’
The joint venture will prioritize the northeastern extension of the Nova discovery while advancing other high-potential zones across Dorado.
FAQs for investing in uranium
What is uranium used for?
Uranium is primarily used for the production of nuclear energy, a form of clean energy created in nuclear power plants. In fact, 99 percent of uranium is used for this purpose. As of 2022, there were 439 active nuclear reactors, as per the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2023, 9 percent of US power came from nuclear energy.
The commodity is also used in the defense industry as a component of nuclear weaponry, among other uses. However, there are safeguards in effect to keep this to a minimum. To create weapons-grade uranium, the material has to be enriched significantly — above 90 percent — to the point that to achieve just 5.6 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium, it would require 1 metric ton of uranium pre-enrichment.
Because of this necessity, uranium enrichment facilities are closely monitored under international agreements. Uranium used for nuclear power production only needs to be enriched to 5 percent; nuclear enrichment facilities need special licenses to enrich above that point for uses such as research at 20 percent enrichment.
The metal is also used in the medical field for applications such as transmission electron microscopy. Before uranium was discovered to be radioactive, it was used to impart a yellow color to ceramic glazes and glass.
Where is uranium found?
The country with the greatest uranium reserves by far is Australia — the island nation holds 28 percent of the world’s uranium reserves. Rounding out the top three are Kazakhstan with 15 percent and Canada with 9 percent.
Although Australia has the highest reserves, it holds uranium as a low priority and is only fourth overall for production. All its uranium output is exported, with none used for domestic nuclear energy production.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest producer of the metal, with production of 21,227 metric tons in 2022. The country’s national uranium company, Kazatomprom, is the world’s largest producer.
Canada’s uranium reserves are found primarily in its Athabasca Basin, and the region is a top producer of the metal as well.
Why should I buy uranium stocks?
Investors should always do their own due diligence when looking at any commodity so that they can decide whether it fits into their investment plans. With that being said, many experts are convinced that uranium has entered into a significant bull market, meaning that uranium stocks could be a good buy.
A slew of factors have led to this bull market. Discourse has been building around the metal’s use as a source of clean energy, which is important for countries looking to reach climate goals, and interest in nuclear power to fuel artificial intelligence energy demand has increased significantly as well.
Nations are now prioritizing a mix of clean energies such as solar and wind energy alongside nuclear. Significantly, in August 2022, Japan announced it is looking into restarting its idled nuclear power plants and commissioning new ones.
Uranium prices are very important to uranium miners, and levels had not been high enough for production to be economic. However, prices have climbed significantly in recent years, and spiked from US$58 per pound in August 2023 to a high of US$106 per pound in February 2024.
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Aurum Resources (AUE:AU) has announced More high grade gold intercepts at BMT3 in Boundiali
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Senate Republicans confirmed nearly 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, leapfrogging previous administrations and his own first term in the process in their sprint to finish off the year.
The confirmation of 97 of Trump’s picks on Thursday with a 53-43 vote marked one of the final bits of floor action in the upper chamber following a blistering pace set out by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., once Republicans gained control of the Senate in January.
Senate Republicans overcame several obstacles throughout the year, including mending intra-party rifts to pass the president’s signature legislation, the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ and reopening the government after the longest shutdown in history.
But it was confirming Trump’s nominees that proved near impossible within the confines of Senate rules, given that Senate Democrats laid out a blanket objection to even the lowest level positions throughout the government.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., noted that Republicans kicked off the year by confirming Trump’s Cabinet at a breakneck pace, but they soon slammed into a wall of ‘unprecedented obstruction from the Democratic minority.’
‘We began the year by confirming President Trump’s Cabinet faster than any Senate in modern history,’ Barrasso said. ‘And by week’s end, President Trump will have 417 nominees confirmed by the Senate this year. That’s far more than the 365 that Joe Biden had in his first year in office.’
In response, Republicans turned to the nuclear option in September and changed the vote threshold for confirming sub-Cabinet-level positions, and have since confirmed 417 of Trump’s picks.
Thune argued that Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., were engaging in ‘nothing more than petty politics,’ not allowing nominees through the typical fast-track processes, like voice votes or unanimous consent, to install low-level presidential nominations.
‘Democrats cannot deal with the fact that the American people elected President Trump, and so they’ve engaged in this pointless political obstruction in revenge,’ Thune said.
With the latest batch of confirmations, Senate Republicans have nearly cleared the backlog of nominees that over the summer had ballooned to nearly 150 picks awaiting lawmakers’ decision. Now, there are only 15 picks left to be confirmed.
Among the list of now-confirmed nominees are former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor and two picks for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, along with several others in nearly every federal agency.
Lawmakers are set to tee up another nominee, Joshua Simmons, who Trump tapped to be the CIA’s special counsel, before the night is over. And they’re still working to move forward with a colossal spending package that ties five appropriations bills together.
But some Senate Democrats are objecting to the minibus spending package, jeopardizing its chances of hitting the floor before lawmakers flee Capitol Hill. Conversations between Republicans and Democrats are ongoing, and could go deep into the night on a path forward.
Thune, as he walked onto the Senate floor Thursday night, said that the plan was to at least knock out the nominees package first.
‘We’ll see where it goes from there,’ he said.
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President Trump signed into law a nearly $1 trillion defense policy bill Thursday and approved what looks to be the largest military spending package in U.S. history.
The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $901 billion in military spending, roughly $8 billion more than the administration requested, according to Reuters.
It also delivers a nearly 4% pay raise for troops, provides new funding for Ukraine and the Baltic States and includes measures designed to scale back security commitments abroad.
In a release shared online, Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., said, ‘With President Trump’s signature, the FY2026 NDAA officially delivers on our peace-through-strength agenda with a generational investment in our national defense.
‘Not only does this bipartisan bill ensure America’s warfighters are the most lethal and capable fighting force in the world, but it also improves the quality of life for our service members in the 12th District and nationwide.’
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, the Senate passed the NDAA Wednesday, sending the compromise bill approved with bipartisan support to the president’s desk.
Trump signed it quietly Thursday evening, according to Reuters.
The NDAA includes $800 million for Ukraine over the next two years as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays U.S. firms for weapons for Ukraine’s military.
It also includes $175 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, which supports Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
The bill prohibits reducing U.S. troop levels in Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days without formal certification by Congress.
The legislation also restricts the administration from reducing U.S. forces in South Korea below 28,500 troops.
Trump ultimately backed the bill in part because it codifies some of his executive orders, including funding the Golden Dome missile defense system and getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, per Reuters.
‘Under President Trump, the U.S. is rebuilding strength, restoring deterrence and proving America will not back down. President Trump and Republicans promised peace through strength. The FY26 NDAA delivers it,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson had said in a statement Dec. 7 on the new measures.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
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Joint Task Force Southern Spear forces struck two alleged narco-terrorist vessels moving along a major drug corridor in the Eastern Pacific on Thursday, killing five militants without suffering any U.S. casualties.
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) released a video on X showing the opening strike and the aftermath, with the targeted boat engulfed in flames.
‘On Dec. 18, at the direction of [Secretary of War] Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted lethal kinetic strikes on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters,’ the post read. ‘Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.
‘A total of five male narco-terrorists were killed during these actions — three in the first vessel and two in the second vessel,’ SOUTHCOM added. ‘No U.S. military forces were harmed.’
Joint Task Force Southern Spear was established to help unify Navy, Coast Guard, intelligence and special operations assets to rapidly strike time-sensitive targets at sea.
The Pentagon has not released the identities of the four narco-terrorists killed or the specific terrorist organization involved.
The U.S. has conducted dozens of strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean to dismantle narco-terrorist networks, targeting groups such as Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and Colombia’s Ejército de Liberación Nacional.
The campaign began Sept. 2 with a strike that killed 11 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, followed by additional operations that reportedly eliminated dozens more across known trafficking routes.
U.S. forces have reportedly hit various types of vessels, including submersibles, fishing boats and high-speed vessels.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration launched its ‘Fentanyl Free America’ plan, with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reporting that strikes on suspected Caribbean drug vessels are helping curb the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
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Maria Shriver slammed President Donald Trump on Thursday after the Kennedy Center’s board voted unanimously to rename the institution to the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center,’ accusing him of trying to attach his name to a memorial dedicated to her uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
Shriver, a high-profile member of the Kennedy family, said it is ‘beyond comprehension’ to change the center’s name, accusing Trump of staining JFK’s legacy in art, culture and education.
‘It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy,’ Shriver wrote on X. ‘It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not.’
Kennedy Center vice president of public relations Roma Daravi told Fox Digital Thursday that the unanimous vote ‘recognizes’ Trump’s work to pull the center out of financial straits while working to also update the building originally constructed in the 1960s, and opened in 1971.
Shriver argued that adding Trump’s name was not ‘dignified’ or ‘funny,’ and ‘is way beneath the stature of the job.’
‘Just when you think someone can’t stoop any lower, down they go,’ she said.
The former First Lady of California quipped that Trump might want to rename JFK Airport or make other changes, including the ‘Trump Lincoln Memorial,’ ‘Trump Jefferson Memorial’ and ‘Trump Smithsonian.’
‘Can we not see what is happening here?’ Shriver said. ‘C’mon, my fellow Americans! Wake up!’
President Trump said on Thursday he was ‘honored’ and ‘surprised’ by the update.
‘We’re saving the building. We saved the building. The building was in such bad shape, physically, financially, in every other way. And now it’s very solid, very strong. We have something going on television, I guess on the 23rd December. I think it’s going to get very big ratings and the Kennedy Center is really, really back strongly,’ he told reporters.
Other members of the Kennedy family, including JFK’s great-nephew, Joe Kennedy III, weighed in on the name change, arguing that federal law protects the center’s name from being changed.
‘It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says,’ he wrote on X.
The name change follows recent precedent, a Kennedy Center official told Fox News Digital, noting that the State Department’s decided earlier this month to add Trump’s name to the U.S. Institute of Peace and to past presidential administrations that have renamed military bases.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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Those worried about shuttering the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were wrong, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who touted the agency’s record in delivering support in the wake of Hurricane Melissa that ravaged the Caribbean in October.
Although USAID historically functioned as an independent agency to deliver aid to impoverished countries and development assistance, the State Department announced in March that it would absorb remaining operations and functions in an effort to streamline operations to deliver foreign assistance amid concerns that USAID did not advance U.S. core interests. The move resulted in cuts for thousands of USAID employees.
Critics including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said that upending the agency would ‘lead to millions of preventable deaths,’ while a group of House Democrats wrote a letter to President Donald Trump in February as USAID cuts got underway that changes would lead to increased maternal and child mortality.
But Rubio now claims those skeptics’ fears were unfounded.
‘Alarmists in politics and the media forecasted that the closure of USAID would result in catastrophe. Now, nearly a year later, they’ve been proven wrong,’ Rubio said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘The State Department has realigned foreign assistance with the interests of the American people, streamlined disaster response capabilities, and leveraged the ingenuity of American companies to save lives.’
Specifically, Rubio pointed to the assistance the State Department provided in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane and was the strongest to strike Kingston since the island started tracking its storms 174 years ago.
The State Department deployed a regional disaster assistance response team (DART) and activated U.S.-based urban search and rescue (USAR) teams to support response efforts in the region as part of recovery efforts.
Likewise, the State Department allocated roughly $1 million to go toward administering food and other resources to those in need, using predesignated supplies housed in 12 different warehouses across the region. Ultimately, the State Department coordinated with the United Nations World Food Program to distribute 5,000 family food packs to families in Jamaica.
‘This new era of foreign assistance eliminates extreme ideological projects that previous administrations forced the American people to subsidize, cuts out the wasteful NGO industrial complex, and puts the American people first,’ Rubio said.
Sanders’ office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted USAID in its push to eliminate wasteful spending during a review earlier in 2025. The agency attracted scrutiny for a series of funding choices, including allocating $1.5 million for a program that sought to ‘advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities’ and a $70,000 program for a ‘DEI musical’ in Ireland.
USAID was officially closed down in July — a move that attracted criticism from Democrats and former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
‘Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,’ Obama said in a video that was shown to departing USAID employees, according to The Associated Press. ‘Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.’
Obama labeled the decision to upend USAID ‘a colossal mistake,’ and said, ‘sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.’
Meanwhile, the State Department is undergoing its own transformation. In addition to absorbing USAID, the State Department has undergone a massive overhaul as part of the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War.
Additionally, it rolled out an America First Global Health Strategy in September to deliver health aid worldwide by working directly with recipient country’s governments instead of through non-governmental organizations and other aid programs.
In December, Kenya became the first country to sign a five-year, $2.5 billion Health Cooperation Framework agreement with the U.S. in alignment with this new strategy, which also aims for recipient countries to eventually bear more responsibility for their own health expenditures.
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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