President Donald Trump is meeting Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.
Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.
The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.
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White House does not detail what will happen to credit card companies that don’t meet Trump demand to lower rates
Leavitt said the president has “an expectation” that credit card companies will accede to his demand that they cap interest rates on credit cards at 10%.
“I don’t have a specific consequence to outline for you but certainly this is an expectation and frankly a demand that the president has made,” she said.
Minnesota residents allege racist arrests in new law lawsuit over immigration crackdown
Three Minnesota residents have sued the Trump administration, saying arrests and traffic stops during an immigration crackdown are racist.
The Department of Homeland Security’s operation in the Minneapolis area is the largest of its kind. Officers are using aggressive tactics to make arrests, including the use of chemical agents and physical force.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. The three residents are U.S. citizens and allege they were questioned by immigration agents due to their race.
“Masked federal agents in military gear have ignored basic human rights in their enforcement activity against Minnesotans, especially targeting Somali and Latino communities,” the ACLU said in a statement.
The lawsuit seeks to end agents’ alleged practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests.
It’s the latest lawsuit filed over the Minnesota crackdown.
DHS didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Leavitt says Trump’s skepticism of Machado ability to lead ‘has not changed’
As Trump met with the Venezuelan opposition leader, Leavitt said that Trump’s opinion of her remained the same and was “a realistic assessment based on what the president was reading and hearing from his advisors and national security team.”
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when that might be, in Trump’s opinion.
Just hours after Maduro’s capture earlier this month, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
White House says 800 executions that were scheduled to take place in Iran were halted
Leavitt said that the president and his team had communicated to Iranian officials that there would be “grave consequences” if killing continues against protesters in Iran.
Trump had threatened action and told protesters that “help is on the way” but said on Wednesday that he had it on good authority that the executions would be halted.
“All options remain on the table for the president,” Leavitt said.
Press secretary says Trump-Machado meeting underway at White House
At a briefing on Thursday, Karoline Leavitt told reporters the meeting was getting underway as she left the Oval Office and said Trump had been “looking forward” to meeting with the Venezuela opposition leader.
Calling Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” for Venezuelans, Leavitt said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials had been in “constant communication” with Rodriguez and the interim government, whom she termed as “cooperative.”
Leavitt also noted that Rodriguez’s government “confirmed that they will be releasing political prisoners.”
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez to speak in first state of the union speech
Rodríguez is addressing an anxious country as she navigates competing pressures from the United States — which toppled her predecessor less than two weeks ago — and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.
In her address to the National Assembly, Rodríguez is expected to lay out her vision for her government, including potential changes to the state-owned oil industry that U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to reinvigorate since Maduro’s seizure.
Danish foreign minister visits Capitol Hill in attempt to shore up support
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen met with a bipartisan group of senators at the Capitol amid a round of meetings intended to generate support for the U.S.-Denmark relationship that has been shaken by President Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland.
“We really appreciate that we have close friends in the Senate and the House as well,” Rasmussen told reporters, adding that Denmark would work to “accommodate any reasonable American requests” with Greenland.
There has been significant concern among lawmakers of both political parties that Trump could upend the NATO alliance by insisting on using military force to possess Greenland. Republicans lawmakers have suggested that the Trump administration should work with Denmark to enhance security in the Arctic.
Trump’s special envoy heads to DC for Greenland meetings
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Trump’s recently appointed special envoy to Greenland, briefly addressed his new role during a press conference Thursday in Louisiana.
When asked about who he planned to meet with and the topic of those meetings, Landry said he planned to travel to Washington to discuss “culinary diplomacy” and opportunities for Louisiana in Greenland, as well as opportunities for Greenland in Louisiana and the U.S.
He did not elaborate.
“I’m sure that when I’m done with those meetings, we will put that information out on our social media and make sure that we get any of those questions answered,” he told reporters.
About 4 in 10 Americans consistently approved of Trump’s performance
President Donald Trump’s second term has been eventful, but you wouldn’t know it from his approval numbers.
An AP-NORC poll from January found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president. That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time. There’s been even less variation in Americans’ views of his performance than during his first term, which was already remarkably steady.
That stability is a testament to how difficult it is to change Americans’ minds about a figure who has defined the political landscape for the past decade.
House snafu could delay consideration of health care subsidies in Senate
A technical snafu by House leaders after the chamber passed legislation to extend federal health care subsidies is adding to uncertainty over the bill in the Senate.
House leaders sent the wrong version of the bill across the Capitol last week, meaning that the Senate would now have to vote to send the legislation back to the House so it can be updated and sent back again. It’s unclear if any Senate opponents of the bill, which would extend already-expired tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans for millions of Americans, might object and delay a fix.
If a senator does object to sending the bill back, the Senate would likely have to hold a roll call vote after its scheduled recess next week.
It’s unclear how the mistake happened. The House voted on the Democratic bill over the objections of Republican leaders by getting enough votes to “discharge” the legislation unlock debate. In the end, 17 Republicans joined Democrats to pass it.
Even if the Senate did send it back quickly, the bill’s fate in the Senate was unclear as bipartisan negotiators have not been able to find compromise. The Senate has already rejected a similar version of the House-passed bill.
Trump announces outlines of health care plan he wants Congress to consider
The White House said the plan Trump laid out in a taped video message Thursday would codify his efforts to lower drug prices by tying prices to the lowest price paid by other countries.
The cornerstone is his proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can bypass the federal government and handle insurance on their own.
Democrats have rejected the idea as a paltry substitute for covering the high costs of health care. It wasn’t immediately clear if any lawmakers in Congress were working to introduce the Republican president’s plan, which mirrors one floated among GOP senators last year.
Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs and a jump in insurance premiums after lawmakers let subsidies expire.
Noem says tanker seizure shows justice in action. Other Trump officials said it’s about oil money
Noem and the military framed Thursday’s seizure of the Veronica as part of an effort to enforce the law: “There is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump’s Republican administration have made clear they see the seizures as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution.
His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Registration data show the ship reported being partially filled with crude on Jan. 3. It’s also been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. A tanker with the same registration number, previously sailing under the name Pegas, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
Wall Street strengthens as Trump’s comments on Iran move markets
Tech stocks bounced back by midday Thursday back following an encouraging report from a Taiwanese chip giant. Also helping to calm financial markets was a sharp easing in oil prices.
A barrel of benchmark crude sank 4.3% to $59.22, while Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 4.1% to $63.81. Analysts pointed to Trump’s comments Wednesday afternoon that he heard “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped amid widespread anti-government protests.
Financial markets took that as a signal that tensions above some of the world’s largest oil deposits could ease and lower the possibility of a disruption to the global flow of oil. Tehran, though, has indicated fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters.
Minnesota attorney general ready to go to court if Trump invokes Insurrection Act
Keith Ellison, who sued the federal government on Monday to try to end the ICE enforcement surge, said he’s ready to go to court again if the president invokes the Insurrection Act to justify sending in the military as well.
“Donald Trump is clearly trying to create an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act, but none exists,” Ellison said in a statement. “Even after the Trump Administration deployed thousands of armed, masked, and poorly trained federal agents to brutalize Minnesotans, people are responding by protesting peacefully, by organizing their communities, and by looking out for their neighbors.”
The Democratic attorney general also called on Minnesota Republicans to set aside partisan politics and speak out “against this dire threat of escalation from the federal government.”
US sanctions Iranian officials accused of repressing anti-government protests
The U.S. is imposing new sanctions on Iranian officials accused of repressing protests against Iran’s theocratic government.
The Treasury Department on Thursday targeted the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security for allegedly calling for violence against protesters. The sanctions also affect 18 people and companies involved in a shadow banking network linked to Iranian financial institutions.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. supports the Iranian people’s call for freedom and justice. The sanctions block access to U.S. assets and business, but they are mostly symbolic, as many targets lack U.S. funds.
Maryland governor presses forward with redistricting, despite risk for Democrats
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he wants to move forward with redrawing the state’s congressional map and have the Democratic-controlled legislature vote on it.
Gov. Wes Moore, who appointed a commission to review potential maps that could soon recommend one, told The Associated Press that he believes the General Assembly “has not just the authority, but the responsibility to be able to then have a vote on the recommendations of the commission.”
Democrats in Maryland outnumber Republicans 2-1, and the party already holds a 7-1 edge over Republicans in the state’s U.S. House delegation. His push has some Democrats concerned that mid-decade redistricting could backfire and cost the party a seat instead of gaining it one.
Moore said during the interview on Wednesday as Maryland’s legislature opened its 90-day session that if other states redraw their maps, Maryland leaders shouldn’t “sit on their hands.”
But Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, has said a remap aimed at flipping the seat held by Republican Rep. Andy Harris could jeopardize at least one seat and potentially two that now are held by Democrats..
Lawmakers question top military nominee about Venezuela attack
The Marine Corps general tapped to lead the U.S. Southern Command says he stands ready to lead America’s expanded military presence in South America, but doesn’t know how long that enhanced focus will last.
Lt. Gen. Francis Donovan told Senate lawmakers Thursday that he has not received any indications about the Trump administration’s long-term military plans for the region where U.S. troops have deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, attacked dozens of alleged drug cartel boats and seized sanctioned oil tankers.
Donovan now serves as vice commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command. Democrats asked him during a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing Thursday if he knows what Trump is planning for U.S. forces in the region.
“You do not have any indication?” asked Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island.
“No sir, I do not,” Donovan responded.
Maine braces for ICE enforcement surge
The governor of Maine and the mayors of its two largest cities acknowledged widespread speculation that ICE enforcement actions are imminent in the state, which is home to large immigrant communities from Somalia and other African nations.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said aggressive enforcement actions that undermine civil rights are “not welcome” in the state. Mills, the mayors of Portland and Lewiston and Maine’s largest school district all acknowledged that the possibility of ICE enforcement has created a nervous atmosphere in Maine.
“But if they come here, I want any federal agents — and the president of the United States — to know what this state stands for: We stand for the rule of law. We oppose violence. We stand for peaceful protest. We stand for compassion, for integrity and justice,” Mills said in video released Wednesday.
Renee Good’s shooting adds momentum to Democratic proposals for protections across the US
Democrats across the country are proposing state law changes to rein in federal immigration officers and protect the public following the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis and the wounding of two people in Portland, Oregon.
Many of the measures have been proposed in some form for years in Democratic-led states, but their momentum is growing as legislatures return to work amid President Donald Trump’s national immigration crackdown following the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. Republicans are pushing back, blaming protesters for impeding enforcement of immigration laws.
Views of Trump’s handling of immigration have declined
When Trump entered office, immigration was among his strongest issues. An AP-NORC Poll published Thursday suggests that it has since faded, a troubling sign for Trump who campaigned on crackdowns to illegal immigration.
Just 38% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, down from 49% at the start of his second term. The most recent poll was conducted January 8-11, shortly after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis.
There are still signs that Americans give Trump some leeway on immigration issues. Nearly half of Americans — 45% — say Trump has “helped” immigration and border security in his second term.
US seizes another sanctioned oil tanker it says has ties to Venezuela
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote Thursday on social media, “Motor Tanker Veronica had previously passed through Venezuelan waters, and was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
The Veronica is the sixth tanker seized by U.S. forces as the Trump administration moves to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products, and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
Noem wrote that the raid was carried out with “close coordination with our colleagues” in the military as well as the State and Justice departments.
“Our heroic Coast Guard men and women once again ensured a flawlessly executed operation, in accordance with international law,” Noem added.
Minnesota governor says Trump is engaged in ‘a campaign of organized brutality’
The Associated Press has reached out to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment on Trump’s latest threat to invoke the Insurrection Act.
During a televised speech before the latest shooting, Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what’s happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Trump glosses over Insurrection Act history and legal context
Threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and send troops to Minneapolis, Trump noted that presidents have used the 19th century law many times. This is true — but they haven’t necessarily done it in the circumstances found in Minneapolis, where the tensions have arisen from Trump already sending federal authorities into the city.
In modern times, the act has been used to mobilize troops to help local authorities or to ensure a federal court order is carried out.
The law was last used in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to help quell riots in Los Angeles after local officials asked for the assistance. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson all invoked it during the Civil Rights Movement to help enforce desegregation orders in Southern states where state and local governments were resisting.
A 1964 Justice Department memo said the act can apply in three circumstances: when a state requests help, when deployment is needed to enforce a federal court order, or when “state and local law enforcement have completely broken down.”
What to know about the latest ICE shooting in Minneapolis
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday’s shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security. O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
Minneapolis mayor described the situation as not ‘sustainable’
Jacob Frey spoke Wednesday night after federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.
Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.”
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.
Trump threatens invoking Insurrection Act to deploy military in Minneapolis
Trump made the threat Thursday after a federal officer trying to make an arrest shot a man in the leg Wednesday after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle. The incident further heightened the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
▶ Read more about Trump’s latest threats to Minnesota
Trump’s approval rating barely budges, AP-NORC poll finds
An AP-NORC poll from January found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s performance as president. That’s virtually unchanged from March 2025, shortly after he took office for the second time.
The new poll also shows subtle signs of vulnerability for Trump, mainly regarding the economy and immigration.
Senators launch a cross-party effort to end stock trading by lawmakers
Two senators from opposite parties are joining forces in a renewed push to ban members of Congress from trading stocks, an effort that has broad public support but has repeatedly stalled on Capitol Hill.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of Florida on Thursday plan to introduce legislation, first shared with The Associated Press, that would bar lawmakers and their immediate family members from trading or owning individual stocks.
It’s the latest in a flurry of proposals in the House and the Senate to limit stock trading in Congress, lending bipartisan momentum to the issue. But the sheer number of proposals has clouded the path forward. Republican leaders in the House are pushing their own bill on stock ownership, an alternative that critics have dismissed as watered down.
▶ Read more about the cross-party effort
Venezuela war powers resolution fails in Senate as 2 Republicans bow to Trump pressure
Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.
Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.
Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.
The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.
▶ Read more about the war powers vote
Louisiana governor is Trump’s envoy to Greenland
While President Donald Trump says he’ll take action on Greenland whether its people “ like it or not, ” his newly handpicked U.S. special envoy is setting off on his own approach.
Gov. Jeff Landry, appointed as envoy in December, said he is not interested in meeting diplomats. The Republican has not visited the Arctic island and did not attend Wednesday’s meeting at the White House that included Danish officials, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. However, the governor was scheduled to travel to Washington on Thursday and Friday for meetings that include the topic of Greenland, Landry’s spokesperson Kate Kelly said.
▶ Read more about Landry 's new role
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