Summary
Closing summary
Our live coverage is ending now. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here. Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a 37-year-old woman identified as Renee Good on the first day of immigration raids in Minneapolis. Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem called Good’s actions – driving a car away from ICE agents as seen in footage captured by bystanders – an act of “domestic terrorism” while Donald Trump called Good a “professional agitator”. Minnesota elected officials, including governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey called the Trump administration’s response “propaganda’ and called for ICE to leave the city. Thousands of demonstrators gathered at vigils and protests in Minneapolis, New York City and Chicago in memory of Good this evening.
Trump has proposed a massive increase to the defense department’s budget to a record $1.5tn for 2027, citing “troubled and dangerous times”. The proposal would mark a 66% increase over the $900bn the Pentagon was authorized to spend this fiscal year.
Trump declared that Venezuela will send the US between 30m and 50m barrels of oil, which will then be sold, with the president controlling the proceeds, which could be more than $2bn. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration is “in close correspondence” with the interim authorities in Venezuela, and that sanctioned oil that had been “just sitting in barrels, sitting on ships” will be arriving in the US “very soon”.
The US European Command confirmed the seizure of a Russian-flagged, Venezuela-linked oil tanker after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic.
Donald Trump and his advisers are looking into “a range of options” in an effort to acquire Greenland, noting in a White House statement on Tuesday that using the US military to do so is “always an option”. After receiving a rare rebuke from European allies, Trump took to Truth Social to state that Nato was dependent on the US to survive.
The Trump administration froze more than $10bn in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, citing what it called concerns about fraud and misuse.
Vance endorses Trump's claim that woman tried 'to run over' officer before being shot
Writing on social media, the vice-president, JD Vance, just echoed Donald Trump’s claim that video recorded from a distance, and slowed down by a rightwing podcaster, suggests that the woman who was fatally shot at point-blank range by a federal officer in Minneapolis during an ICE raid on Wednesday, Renee Good, had tried to “run over” the officer.
In reference to the slowed down clip Trump had highlighted earlier in the day, Vance wrote: “You can accept that this woman’s death is a tragedy while acknowledging it’s a tragedy of her own making. Don’t illegally interfere in federal law enforcement operations and try to run over our officers with your car. It’s really that simple.”
In fact, viewed at normal speed, the video, which was obtained and posted online by the ABC affiliate KSTP, appears to show that the officer was so slightly brushed by the slowly moving car that he had no trouble retaining his balance and firing multiple shots at the driver. This angle also seems to show that the woman driving the vehicle accelerated only after being shot, which is not unusual.
Like Trump, Vance ignored the other videos recorded at close range which seem to show clearly that the officer was not in any danger.
Updated
Former vice president Mike Pence warned against “rushing to judgement” about the motives of ICE agents before a full investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis today.
“I can’t imagine what that woman’s family is going through,” Pence said on CNN. “We’re talking about a human tragedy.”
At the same time, he warned people against “obstructing” ICE officers.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said “ICE is not here to create safety in our city” but instead focused on “terrorizing our community” during an appearance on CNN this evening.
“They are creating situations that are dangerous and chaotic, just like this,” Frey said.
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara added that he and the mayor “have been worried for weeks” about what ICE remaining in Minneappolis will mean for the safey of local police officers, who he said are placed in the crosshairs trying to deescalate situations.
Former Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigations officials tell CNN that a full investigation is needed into the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker, who served under George W Bush, and former acting ICE director John Sandweg, who served under Barack Obama, assessed video footage of the shooting on CNN today, but said only a full investigation could answer all questions about the shooting.
Updated
Thousands of people have joined a vigil for Renee Good in Minneapolis this evening.
Here are more photographs from the growing crowd:
Updated
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey and police chief Brian O’Hara will be speaking on CNN shortly. We’ll bring you the top lines from those conversations.
The Associated Press has confirmed the identity of the woman fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis today as Renee Good, citing a hospital record.
In an Instagram account bio, Good called herself a “Poet and writer and wife and mom”. Another social media account shows her holding a child.
The AP also reports that, in video recorded after the shooting, the voice of a distraught woman can be heard identifying Good as her spouse. “That’s my wife, I don’t know what to do!” the woman could be heard saying. The Guardian has not independently verified the authenticity of that video.
Updated
Justice Democrats, the progressive political action committee that elected Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, is calling on voters to primary Democrats that voted to express “gratitude” to ICE.
In a social media post, the PAC wrote: “We don’t need Congressmen that thank ICE. We need Congressmen that will abolish it like @DonavanMI13 & @Justinjpearson”, linking to the social media handles of Donavan McKinney and Justin J Pearson.
The post included a list of 75 Democrats who voted last summer to “express gratitude” to ICE, which included Shri Thanedar and Steve Cohen. McKinney is running against Thanedar in Michigan; and Pearson is running to unseat Cohen in Tennessee.
Updated
House Democrat calls for Noem to be impeached
Hours after a US citizen was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Robin Kelly, a Democratic congresswoman, announced her intention to file three articles of impeachment against Donald Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem.
The Illinois representative called Noem “an incompetent leader” and “a disgrace to our democracy” who has “wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area, and now, her rogue ICE agents have unleashed that same destruction in Minneapolis, fatally shooting Renee Nicole Good”.
Noem defended the officer’s action, saying he “defensively shot to protect himself”, an account the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, called “bullshit”. The shooting victim has been identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. At a news conference, Noem vowed to continue ICE operations in the area.
Kelly said she planned to file three articles of impeachment against Noem for obstruction of justice, violation of public trust and self-dealing.
“From Chicago to Charlotte to Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Secretary Noem is violating the Constitution while ruining—and ending—lives, and separating families,” the congresswoman said in a statement. “It’s one thing to be incompetent and dangerous, but it’s impeachable to break the rule of law.”
Democrats have grown increasingly outspoken against Trump’s deportation campaign as DHS moves aggressively into Democratic-run cities, raising civil rights and due process concerns. Last month, Delia Ramirez, another Illinois congresswoman, called for an investigation by the House judiciary committee to determine whether Noem had undertaken “unlawful and potentially impeachable actions”.
The charges are unlikely to move forward in the Republican-controlled House, where few members are willing to break with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement, one of the president’s top priorities. However, if Democrats win back the House in this year’s midterm elections, the calculus could change.
Nearly two years ago, Republicans used their thin majority to impeach Joe Biden’s homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, by one vote, on charges that many Republicans and the Wall Street Journal editorial board said amounted to a policy dispute, and not “high crimes and misdemeanors”.
Updated
Protesters have gathered in New York City to denounce the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this morning.
Here are some photos from the demonstration:
Updated
The 37-year-old woman fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis today has been identified as Renee Nicole Good by her mother, Donna Ganger.
Ganger identified her daughter as the victim to the Minnesota Star Tribune after the family was notified of her death.
“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Ganger told the paper. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”
Ganger added that her daughter lived in the Twin Cities with her partner, and that “She was probably terrified” by the ICE agents approaching her car. She said that Good was “not part of anything like that at all” in response to a description of protesters challenging immigration officials.
At a vigil at the scene of the shooting Wednesday evening, protesters chanted: “Say her name. Renee Good.” The chant evoked past “Say her name” or “Say his name” chants for Black women and men killed by police, such as George Floyd, who was killed in Minneapolis in 2020.
The Star Tribune also spoke to Timmy Ray Macklin Sr., the grandfather of Good’s 6-year-old child. Macklin Sr. said his son, Timmy Ray Macklin Jr., had previously been married to Good, but died in 2023 at the age of 36.
“There’s nobody else in his life,” Macklin Sr. said of his grandchild, now orphaned. “I’ll drive. I’ll fly. To come and get my grandchild.”
Prominent California Democrats Adam Schiff and Gavin Newsom have denounced immigration agents’ actions and the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis.
“Under Trump, we’re witnessing increased, violent confrontations by federal immigration agents that are putting communities at risk, not keeping us safe,” senator Adam Schiff wrote on social media. “We must refuse to accept this as normal. There must be an immediate investigation and accountability.”
California governor Gavin Newsom echoed those sentiments in a later post on social media. “For almost a year, Donald Trump’s personal police force has rampaged across America. His administration has driven extremism and cruelty while discarding basic safeguards and accountability,” he said. “Now, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen is dead. Donald Trump owns this. His deliberate escalation of intimidation and chaos has consequences. His reckless crackdown must end.”
A vigil for the woman killed in Minneapolis today has begun at the site of the fatal shooting.
Between speakers, the gathered demonstrators have engaged in call-and-response chants such as “Rise up take a stand, no one is illegal on stolen land” and “No Trump. No troops. Twin Cities ain’t licking boots.”
Updated
Speaking at a press conference in Minneapolis today, the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, said a woman who was fatally shot by ICE agents “was harassing and impeding law enforcement operations” and that “our officer followed his training”.
She added, “The very same officer who was attacked today had previously been dragged by an anti-ICE rioter who had rammed him with a car and drug him back in June.”
Noem said the woman killed today hit the officer with her car. “He went to the hospital. A doctor did treat him. He has been released, but he’s going to spend some time with his family.”
It is not clear from video footage of the shooting whether the victim’s car did in fact make contact with the ICE agent.
Updated
Kamala Harris called the Trump administration’s reaction to the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis today “pure gaslighting” in a social media post.
“Today in Minneapolis, ICE agents shot and killed a woman in a shocking incident. Governor Walz has announced the state will ensure a fair investigation, and I am grateful for his swift action,” she wrote. “Many of us have seen the horrifying and painful video, which makes it clear that the Trump administration’s explanation of this shooting is pure gaslighting. A full and fair investigation at the state level is absolutely necessary.”
As the sun sets in Minneapolis, hundreds have gathered for a vigil at the site where a 37-year-old woman was fatally shot by ICE agents earlier today.
Here are a few images from the wires:
Updated
Democratic leaders in House and Senate call for an investigation into fatal shooting
In a social media post, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said: “This heinous killing must be criminally investigated to the full extent of the law.” He added that the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, “has zero credibility”.
Speaking to reporters at the US Capitol, the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, also called for a “full investigation to get to the bottom of this”.
“When you have these ICE agents all over the streets of our cities without any cooperation with local law enforcement, local communities, tragedies – horrible tragedies, killings – occur,” he said.
Updated
Meanwhile, our international blog is covering this news on the Trump administration’s moves around Venezuela:
Donald Trump has said in a post on his Truth Social platform that Venezuela will be buying American-made products with the money it receives from the new deal arranged with his administration.
I have just been informed that Venezuela is going to be purchasing ONLY American Made Products, with the money they receive from our new Oil Deal. These purchases will include, among other things, American Agricultural Products, and American Made Medicines, Medical Devices, and Equipment to improve Venezuela’s Electric Grid and Energy Facilities.
In other words, Venezuela is committing to doing business with the United States of America as their principal partner – A wise choice, and a very good thing for the people of Venezuela, and the United States.
Updated
Trump proposes $1.5tn trillion military budget
Donald Trump has proposed a massive increase to the defense department’s budget to a record $1.5tn for 2027, citing “troubled and dangerous times”. The proposal would mark a 66% increase over the $900bn the Pentagon was authorized to spend this fiscal year.
In a post on his social media website, Trump wrote: “This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe.”
He added that he was able to suggest the $1.5tn budget because of “the tremendous numbers being produced by Tariffs from other Countries, many of which, in the past, have ‘ripped off’ the United States at levels never seen before”.
Trump’s announcement of increased military spending came just days after a military operation which captured the president of Venezuela, and as Trump has floated taking military action in Greenland, Colombia and Cuba.
Updated
Minneapolis shooting leads to political split-screen
In the hours following the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by ICE agents, political leaders on both sides of the aisle responded to news of the killing.
On the right, members of Donald Trump’s cabinet and Republican congressmembers shared statements in support of the Department of Homeland Security, denounced the victim as a terrorist and called for the arrest of Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey.
In social media posts, the White House, Department of Homeland Security and press secretary Karoline Leavitt all said they “stand with ICE”. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma wrote: “ICE agents aren’t Disney villains. They’re our neighbors, friends, and loved ones. These immigration and customs enforcement officers are red-blooded American patriots doing a tough job to keep our nation safe. Assaults against ICE are up 1,300%. I stand with @DHSgov.”
Trump advisor Stephen Miller, meanwhile, called the incident – apparently referring to the victim’s behavior – an act of “domestic terrorism” and added that “Democrats continue to lend aid and comfort to domestic terrorism.”
Other Republicans, as we previously reported, including congressmembers Nancy Mace and Randy Fine, called for the arrest of Minneapolis’s mayor.
Meanwhile, on the left, Minneapolis state leadership and congressional representatives called the White House’s response “propaganda” and a lie.
“I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice,” governor Tim Walz wrote on social media.
In a response to a post by Homeland Security, Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar wrote, “You’re lying. There was no attempt to run the officer over and no ICE agents appear to be hurt. Get out of our city.”
Republican lawmakers are calling for the arrest of Minneapolis’s mayor, Jacob Frey.
In a post on social media, South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace wrote “Arrest the mayor” alongside a screenshot of Fox News coverage showing Frey telling ICE to leave the city.
In a separate post, reacting to a statement Frey made saying he was aware of the shooting, congressman Randy Fine of Florida wrote: “This scumbag POS should be arrested right now.”
Updated
Immigrant rights group to hold vigil Minneapolis on Wednesday
An immigrant rights group will hold a vigil for the 37-year-old woman fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
“We witnessed an atrocious attack on our community today,” the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee wrote on Facebook. “Community members were taken from us and an observer was shot dead. ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA NOW.”
Updated
Walz also said that he has not had any communication with the victim’s family. Earlier, Minneapolis’s mayor, Jacob Frey, said that a 37-year-old woman was fatally shot, but did not provide any more details on her identity.
“We do not have a definitive ID on this individual,” Walz said at today’s press conference, before questioning claims by Trump officials who expounded the alleged intentions of the victim.
“It’s it’s beyond me that apparently, from the federal government, from the homeland security director herself, has already determined who this person was, what their motive was, and they hadn’t even been taken out of the vehicle,” the governor said. “We’re not living in a normal world.”
Watch the video here.
Updated
Walz added that today’s shooting was “totally predictable” and “totally avoidable”. He noted that local law enforcement received no coordination with federal agents.
He also implored Minnesotans to demonstrate peacefully, and not “take the bait” from the administration.
“Do not allow them to deploy federal troops into here. Do not allow them to invoke the Insurrection Act. Do not allow them to declare martial law. Do not allow them to lie about the security and the decency of the state, and let’s let this investigation play itself out,” he said.
Updated
Minnesota governor issues 'warning order' to prepare state's national guard following fatal shooting by ICE agent
At a press conference, Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, said that he’s “issued a warning order” to prepare the state’s national guard. “We have soldiers in training and prepared to be deployed if necessary,” he noted. “I remind you, a warning order is a heads up for folks.”
Walz added: “I have a very simple message: we do not need any further help from the federal government. Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, you’ve done enough.”
Updated
Trump blames victim who was fatally shot by ICE agent in Minneapolis
Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social following the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis.
He notes that he’s watched the video of the shooting, before calling the victim “a professional agitator”, without providing any evidence for his claim.
He added:
The woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.
The president wrote that “it is hard to believe” that the agent who killed the woman is alive, noting that he is “now recovering in the hospital” before saying that the reason for these incidents “is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis”.
A reminder that the video shows the woman driving appears to be backing away from ICE officers as they approach the car, and attempt to open her door.
As the driver moves forward and then away from the officers, another ICE officer is seen firing his gun as the car appears to drive by him.
Updated
After the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, the state’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, called for federal immigration officers to leave Minnesota “immediately”.
“ICE has committed an unspeakable act of violence today,” she said in a statement. “These masked agents are out of control and creating real chaos in our state.”
Flanagan urged Minnesotans to remain “remain peaceful, calm, and united” in the “face of their violence”.
“Minnesotans will not allow Trump and his thugs to turn our communities into war zones,” she added.
Updated
Dispatch from the scene of the Minneapolis shooting
Reporting from Minneapolis
I was at the scene of the shooting soon after it occurred, shadowing constitutional observers who have trained for months to monitor and respond to ICE activity in the state.
ICE vehicles, unmarked, lined the street, and yellow police tape cordoned off the area. By the time we arrived, many dozens of protesters and community members were outside, shouting at ICE agents and at the local police. More agents arrived.
People yelled at Minneapolis police to arrest the ICE agent who shot the woman in a car. “What were you taught by your parents?” one woman yelled at the agents. A man on a bullhorn led some in a chant of “Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.” People repeatedly yelled for ICE to leave, to go home – to get out of Minneapolis.
This is the second day of an expected 30-day surge, which ICE has called its largest operation to date.
Trained observers went to the houses that looked out on to the streets, asking residents if they had any video they could share. One woman moved through the crowd quickly, telling people more were needed at a nearby school, where ICE had been seen.
City council members, the mayor and the police chief all came to the scene. Eventually, Minneapolis police took over, and ICE agents left. As agents left, people yelled and threw snowballs at their vehicles. The agents sprayed irritants and some pellets at those who followed the vehicles. Once they left the area, volunteer medics helped those who were hit with spray to clear their eyes.
After ICE left, observers heard more whistles blowing nearby – a sign that ICE had moved to another part of south Minneapolis. Dozens took off toward the direction of the whistles. I jumped into a car with the observer I was shadowing to a scene a few blocks away, where ICE was outside a dollar store in a strip mall.
“This is just sad,” a man watching at the mall said to me.
Updated
For some wider context on the state of immigration custody in the US, my colleagues Maanvi Singh, Coral Murphy Marcos and Charlotte Simmonds have reported on the record number of deaths in ICE custody.
They report that 2025 was the deadliest year in more than two decades, as the Trump administration moved to detain a record number of people.
The number of deaths, 32, matched the previous record, set in 2004. These deaths occurred as the Trump administration ramped up its immigration operations, detaining a record number of people in December. The agency was holding 68,440 people in detention in mid-December; nearly 75% of them had no criminal convictions.
You can read their full report here:
Updated
'Don't believe this propaganda machine': Walz slams DHS justification for Minneapolis shooting
Minnesota governor Tim Walz has slammed the Department of Homeland Security’s justification for the shooting in Minneapolis today that killed a 37-year-old woman.
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem claimed that federal agents were acting out of self-defense.
Walz was quick to push back. “I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” he wrote on social media. “The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”
Eyewitness videos seem to refute DHS’s argument. The maroon SUV is shown backing away from ICE officers as they approach the car, and attempt to open the driver’s door. One ICE officer that can be seen partially in front of the car as the driver moves forward and then away from the officers. That same ICE officer is seen firing his gun as the car appears to drive by him.
Updated
Noem says 'act of domestic terrorism' spurred Minneapolis shooting
While speaking at an unrelated press conference in Brownsville, Texas, Kristi Noem said today’s shooting in Minneapolis was provoked by an “act of domestic terrorism”.
The homeland security went on to say that the immigration agents on the scene were “attempting to push out their vehicle” due to the snow in the city. “The woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him,” Noem said.
Updated
O’Hara provided more details about today’s shooting and how the events unfolded. After Minneapolis police officers arrived on the scene, they found the woman with a gunshot wound to the head.
Life-saving measures were performed at the scene, including CPR, before the woman was transported to the Hennepin county medical center, where she was pronounced dead.
O’Hara added that the information they have indicates the woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway. “At some point, a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot, and the vehicle began to drive off,” the chief said. “At least two shots were fired, the vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”
Updated
Frey concluded the press conference by imploring Minneapolis residents to “unite around, hope and love and peace and getting justice”.
O’Hara said that the investigation into the shooting is now being led jointly by the FBI, as well as the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension. The latter will investigate whether any state laws have been violated.
Updated
Also speaking at today’s press conference in Minneapolis is the city’s police chief, Brian O’Hara. He noted that the victim today was “a middle-aged white woman”. Earlier, Frey noted the woman was 37 years old.
He added there was nothing to suggest that the woman was the target of any law enforcement investigation or activity.
“This woman was in her car, and it appears, been blocking the street because of the presence of federal law enforcement,” O’Hara said, adding that he did not see anyone in the car when he arrived on the scene. The police chief said that a spouse has since arrived at the hospital.
Updated
At the press conference Frey said he did not yet have the identification of the ICE agent who shot and killed a woman during an enforcement operation today.
Minneapolis mayor calls DHS reasoning behind shooting "bullshit"
At a press conference today, the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, characterized the reason by the Department of Homeland Security for killing a woman during a large scale immigration operation as “bullshit”.
“To the family, I’m so deeply sorry,” Frey added. “There’s nothing that I can say right now that’s going to make you or your relatives, friends of the victim feel any better.”
He went on to issue a sharp message to federal immigration agents in the city.
“Get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here,” he added. “People are being hurt. Families are being ripped apart … and now somebody is dead.”
Updated
Johnson says that he doesn't anticipate 'boots on the ground' after Venezuela briefing
The Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, emerged from the closed-door meeting with top administration officials and his lower chamber colleagues about the capture of Nicolás Maduro convinced that there would be “no boots on the ground”.
“We don’t anticipate that’s going to be necessary,” the speaker said. “We went to apprehend a criminal. We did it with precision. It was justified, and that job has been done. We now hope that the people in Venezuela can govern themselves.”
Updated
On the topic of Republican response to any military operation in Greenland, former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has issued a sharp rebuke of the administration’s rhetoric around using force to acquire the territory.
“Threats and intimidation by US officials over American ownership of Greenland are as unseemly as they are counterproductive,” the Kentucky lawmaker said in a statement. “The use of force to seize the sovereign democratic territory of one of America’s most loyal and capable allies would be an especially catastrophic act of strategic self-harm to America and its global influence.”
Updated
If there’s one question that Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress are struggling to answer these days, it’s how to respond to a potential US incursion aimed at taking control of the Danish territory of Greenland.
Consider how North Dakota senator Kevin Cramer responded when pressed by a reporter at the Capitol to answer whether such a military operation would require congressional approval.
“Well, it depends on what they would be doing there, but at this point, there’s no intention to do that,” he said.
And yet the White House just days ago issued a statement that sure made it sound like they were contemplating doing whatever was necessary to seize Greeland.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said.
Further pressed by reporters to weigh in on what seems to be an important question before Congress, Cramer demurred. “I’m not going to take that bait,” he said.
“I’m not going to speak to that hypothetical that’s very unlikely to ever come before us.”
Updated
When asked about the president’s comments that he’d be open to an operation in Colombia, and whether the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, “should be expecting Delta Force anytime”, Leavitt didn’t offer an answer.
“That would be a very unwise question for me to answer, to weigh into,” she said.
And asked whether Trump is still committed to Nato and the article 5 provision of the alliance’s members coming to each other’s defense, Leavitt points to Trump’s earlier comments on Nato in which he said that “we will always be there for Nato even if they are not there for us”.
(What she didn’t say was that Trump also said that Nato was dependent on the US to survive).
Updated
Asked again if there are concerns of increased tensions with Russia because of the tanker seizure, and with China over the Venezuela operation, Leavitt says:
The president has very good, open relationships with both President Putin and President Xi. He has spoken with them numerous times … and I believe those personal relationships are going to continue.
But as for the president and the United States, he’s going to enforce our policy that’s best for the US, and in respect to these ship seizures, that’s enforcing the embargo on all dark-fleet vessels that are illegally transporting oil.
Pressed on what the US stands to gain if it were to take control of Greenland, given it already has access to military bases there and can station personnel on the territory and place assets, Leavitt replies:
More control over the Arctic region and ensuring that China and Russia and our adversaries cannot continue their aggression in this very important and strategic region.
Updated
Leavitt says: “It’s too premature and too early to dictate a timetable for elections in Venezuela right now.”
Leavitt says the US Coast Guard is “escorting” the Sophia vessel – the second oil tanker that was seized in the Caribbean – to the US.
Updated
US selectively rolling back Venezuela sanctions, White House says
The US is “selectively rolling back sanctions to enable the transport and sale of Venezuelan crude and oil products to the global market”, Leavitt says.
Updated
Leavitt says US controlling Greenland would deter China and Russia in the Arctic, and purchase being 'actively discussed' by Trump and team
Asked why the US hasn’t ruled out military force to acquire Greenland, Leavitt says Greenland is “being actively discussed” by Trump and his national security team and they’re talking about what a potential purchase could look like.
Trump, she says, has been clear that the US acquisition of Greenland “would deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region”.
Trump’s first option, again, is diplomacy, she adds.
Updated
Russian vessel's crew is subject to prosecution after US seizure, White House says
Asked whether the seizure of the Russian-flagged, Venezuelan-linked Bella-1/Marinera oil tanker risked a larger conflict with Russia, Leavitt doesn’t answer the question.
She says the vessel was transporting sanctioned oil, and that the US “will enforce all sanctions”.
“The vessel had a judicial seizure order ... so that means the crew is now subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law, and they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution, if necessary,” she says.
The Kremlin has already responded angrily to the US seizure, saying “no state has the right to use force against ships properly registered in the jurisdictions of other states”. The tanker had received a temporary permit to sail under the Russian flag on 24 December, it said in a statement.
Updated
Leavitt is going on about yesterday’s report in the New Yorker on JD Vance’s “notable absence” from the operation in Venezuela, which asked whether his “exclusion” was down to his “anti-interventionist ideology” or whether it was a political calculation.
Leavitt attacks the report as fake and says the vice-president “has been involved in all policy … including Venezuela policy”. She says he was “read in and deeply involved” in the operation from the beginning.
Updated
Asked how the US would ensure oil worker security in Venezuela and whether that could involve troops, Leavitt says that Trump “reserves the right to use the US military if necessary”.
Diplomacy is always the first option, she says, adding that Trump tried that with Nicolás Maduro “but unfortunately he was an illegitimate dictator and unserious person”.
“There is a long-term plan here,” Leavitt adds.
Trump to meet with oil executives on Friday
A meeting with oil executives will take place on Friday to discuss opportunities, Leavitt says.
Updated
Leavitt says the deal involves sanctioned oil that had been “just sitting in barrels, sitting on ships”.
She says the interim Venezuelan authorities have agreed to release that oil, and that it would be arriving in the US “very soon”.
The US has already begun marketing the Venezuelan oil, she says, adding that all proceeds will first settle in US-controlled accounts at globally recognized banks.
“Those funds will be dispersed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the United States government,” she says.
Asked if the Venezuelan government had committed to turning over its oil to the US indefinitely and what happens if it doesn’t, Leavitt says the deal was made between Donald Trump and his team and the interim authorities in Venezuela.
She says the US energy secretary, Chris Wright, and the energy department are working with the private oil companies and the interim Venezuelan authorities to execute the “historic deal”.
“This will benefit the American people and the Venezuelan people,” she says.
Updated
Leavitt: Trump administration 'in close correspondence' with Venezuela's interim authorities
Asked who is now in charge of Venezuela, interim leader Delcy Rodríguez – who yesterday said there was “no foreign agent” running the country – or the US, Leavitt says the Trump administration is “in close correspondence” with the interim authorities in Venezuela.
“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim in authorities in Venezuela right now,” she says. “Their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States.”
Updated
White House press briefing
And the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is now taking questions from reporters, I’ll bring you all the key lines here.
Updated
On the question of cost, Marco Rubio said today that the military operation in Venezuela wouldn’t cost the US taxpayer “anything”.
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, noted that the “level of sophistication” discussed at the classified briefing for senators today “is something only the United States of America can accomplish”.
“The world is taking notice of that. Certainly Venezuela is taking notice of that,” he added, while disparaging a question about the cost of the military operation from a CNN journalist. “The president, when he speaks, he means it. He’s not messing around. We are an administration of action to advance our interests, and that is on full display.”
Updated
Rubio didn’t discuss the administration’s recent posture on acquiring Greenland. He noted that he’ll be meeting with leaders of the territory and Denmark next week. Rubio underscored that Donald Trump has expressed his interest in Greenland since his first term in office, and that he “always retains the option” for military intervention in the event of a national security threat.
Secretary Rubio addresses reporters after briefing with senators on Venezuela
Speaking to reporters after today’s briefing, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said that the US is about to execute a deal to take “all the oil that is stuck in Venezuela”.
“We’re going to sell it in the marketplace, at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime,” Rubio added.
When pressed by reporters about whether the US is concerned about the interim leader’s loyalty to her deposed predecessor, Rubio remained resolute.
“The bottom line is that there is a process now in place where we have tremendous control and leverage over what those interim authorities are doing and are able to do,” the secretary of state said. “But obviously this will be a process of transition. In the end, it will be up to the Venezuelan people to transform their country. We are prepared under the right conditions, using the leverage that we have, which includes the fact that they cannot move any oil unless we allow them to move it.”
Updated
Democrats decry Venezuela operation after briefing from top administration officials
Several Democratic senators have emerged from the classified briefing from top administration officials on the capture of Nicolás Maduro, all criticizing the scope of the military operation.
“I heard no detailed plan,” said the senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. “It is just slightly different than the mistakes we made in Iraq and Afghanistan. There, we used our military as a means to try to micromanage the country. They waited us out, and as soon as we left, chaos erupted. Why would it be any difference under these circumstances?”
The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said that the “public needs answers” as he spoke to reporters. “What the hell is going on? We need answers as to how long this is going to last,” he said.
Updated
Republican senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri just spoke to reporters after the classified briefing on Venezuela.
Notably, when asked about the administration’s recent comments about “acquiring” Greenland, Schmitt was supportive of US pursuits of the territory, noting its “incredible strategic value” and the mineral-rich environment.
“The other thing I would point out, China and Russia are operating off the coast of Greenland,” Schmitt said, repeating one of Donald Trump’s frequent reasons behind taking over the territory. “Denmark is not capable of protecting Greenland, and so in my view, we have a very keen interest in Greenland.”
Updated
Mullin also noted that the briefing today from top administration officials was “a full, complete brief”, going so far to call it “one of the best briefs I’ve ever received”.
He also told reporters that the United States’ control over Venezuela oil production would be to “bring stability” to the country and “allow Venezuela to be a democracy again”.
“Any oil that we have, that we’ve seized, and any oil that we bring in, will be used directly for the Venezuela people, not it will not go into our treasury,” Mullin added.
Updated
Senator Mullin also addressed the seizure of a Russian-flagged oil tanker today, adding that he was not concerned about a possible response from Moscow.
“We’re going to control our western Hemisphere,” he told reporters. “There is not going to be any oil coming in or out of Venezuela without our approval.”
Senator Mullin praises Maduro capture as 'outstanding effort' by US military after classified briefing by Trump officials
Republican senator Markywayne Mullin is speaking to reporters after the classified briefing by Trump administration officials on the military operation in Venezuela.
He described it as an “outstanding effort” by the US intelligence community and the US military. “Only president Trump had the backbone to pull it off, to pull out an indicted, illegitimate president that was holding Venezuela hostage,” Mullin added.
Johnson says Democrats will 'cut off their nose to spite their face' by criticizing Maduro arrest
Speaking at today’s House GOP conference, speaker Mike Johnson accused Democrats of undermining the US strikes in Venezuela and the subsequent arrest of Nicolás Maduro “because the action was taken by president Trump”.
He added that Democrats are “apoplectic” and have, in the past, said that Maduro is an illegitimate leader. “They’re going to cut off their own nose to spite their face,” Johnson said. “Instead of a caucus wide therapy session, how about Democrats acknowledge that it’s fundamentally good thing for freedom loving people around the world that Maduro is gone.”
A senior minister in Greenland’s government will come to London next week to appeal directly to British MPs for support in the face of Donald Trump’s threats to annex the semi-autonomous Danish region.
Naaja Nathanielsen, Greeland’s energy minister will travel to parliament on Tuesday and address an “emergency” meeting of MPs at Westminster.
The invitation to her comes from Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI), a thinktank which administrates for committee of British MPs and lords with an interest in Greenlandic affairs
Brendan O’Hara, a Scottish National Party MP who chairs the committee, said it would be an opportunity for British MPs and peers to hear directly from a member of the Greenlandic government at a time when a US invasion would be “catastrophic” for Nato.
“If you look at what people like Trump and others in administration are saying we need to take that threat that they will carry it out seriously. It’s like Maya Angelou’s comment: ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time’,” O’Hara told the Guardian.
The threat to Greenland comes as differences have opened up on the issue among British MPs. Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK party and an ally of Donald Trump, told a press conference on Wednesday that there was “a strong feeling” in British intelligence circles that there needed to be a significant Nato base located in northern Greenland.
“At the moment it would appear that is not something Greenland is keen to do. Since 2009 it has been moving further away from Danish control and is close to establishing its own independence. The fear is that they will fall prey to large amounts of Chinese money and influence. As ever, with things Trump says they might sound outrageous, and in the case of using force it may be, but there is a point behind it,” Farage said.
Trump says that China and Russia have 'zero fear' of Nato without the United States
After receiving a rare rebuke from European allies after the White House said it was exploring a “range of options” to acquire Greenland, Donald Trump took to Truth Social today to explain that Nato was dependent on the US to survive.
“RUSSIA AND CHINA HAVE ZERO FEAR OF NATO WITHOUT THE UNITED STATES, AND I DOUBT NATO WOULD BE THERE FOR US IF WE REALLY NEEDED THEM,” the president wrote in a customary all-caps post. “We will always be there for NATO, even if they won’t be there for us. The only Nation that China and Russia fear and respect is the DJT REBUILT U.S.A.”
Trump also touted his push for Nato members to increase their defense and security spending from 2% to 5% last year.
“Most weren’t paying their bills, UNTIL I CAME ALONG,” the president said.
The House Republicans press conference is due to start shortly, but a quick note that speaker Mike Johnson is due to travel to the UK later this month to address parliament, in honor of 250th anniversary of America’s independence.
“As America begins its Semiquincentennial celebration, I will be happy to visit one of the great shrines of democracy itself, where the principles that launched the long struggle for American liberty were debated and refined,” Johnson said.
The UK House speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said he was “honoured” to welcome Johnson to parliament.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth has said that “the blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT – anywhere in the world” in a post on social media, following confirmation of the intercepted Russian-flagged tanker.
He’s due to brief lawmakers about the weekend strikes on Venezuela shortly.
Updated
US confirms seizure of Russian-flagged oil tanker after weeks long pursuit
The US European Command has now confirmed the seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker.
In a post on X, it said:
The @TheJusticeDept & @DHSgov, in coordination with the@DeptofWar, today announced the seizure of the M/V Bella 1 for violations of U.S. sanctions.
The vessel was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked by USCGC Munro.”
You can read more about the operation on our dedicated Europe liveblog:
Updated
We’ll also hear from House Republicans and Democrats at their weekly press conferences today. Those will kick off at 10am ET, and we’ll bring you the latest lines.
Top Trump administration officials brief all congressional lawmakers on Venezuela military operation
Also today, several Trump officials – including secretary of state Marco Rubio and defense secretary Pete Hegseth – will hold a briefing for all congressional lawmakers on the strikes in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, over the weekend. They’ll first address members of the Senate at 10am ET, before briefing representatives in the House.
Donald Trump doesn’t have any public events today, per his official schedule. He’ll sign executive orders at 2:30pm ET in the Oval Office, but that’s closed to the press as of now.
We will, however, hear from press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a White House briefing for reporters at 11am ET. We’ll bring you the latest lines as that happens.
The United States is attempting to seize a Venezuela-linked oil tanker after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
The seizure, which could stoke tensions with Russia, came after the tanker, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a US maritime “blockade” of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed US Coast Guard efforts to board it.
The officials, who were speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the operation is being carried out by the Coast Guard and US military. They added that Russian military vessels were in the general vicinity when the operation took place, including a Russian submarine.
The tanker, now known as the Marinera and registered under a Russian flag, is the latest tanker targeted by the US Coast Guard since the start of US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign against Venezuela.
Separately, the US Coast Guard has also intercepted another Venezuela-linked tanker in Latin American waters, US officials told Reuters, as the US continues enforcing a maritime “blockade” of sanctioned vessels from Venezuela.
White House says using US military is ‘always an option’ for seizing Greenland
Donald Trump and his advisers are looking into “a range of options” in an effort to acquire Greenland, noting in a White House statement on Tuesday that using the US military to do so is “always an option”.
“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Leavitt’s comments came as the leaders of major European powers pushed back against Trump’s long-running desire to seize the Arctic territory.
In a show of solidarity on Tuesday, the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and other nations issued a joint statement with the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, urging the US to respect its sovereignty. They wrote in the statement that Arctic security was a top priority for Nato, a defense alliance that includes the United States and Greenland.
“Greenland belongs to its people,” the statement said. “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
Greenland’s government said it had asked the US state department for an “urgent” meeting with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Greenland’s minister for foreign affairs and research, Vivian Motzfeldt, and the Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, to discuss “the US’s claims about our country”.
Rasmussen told the Danish public broadcaster DR that a meeting would give the Danes and Greenlanders a chance to correct some of Trump’s claims, including that there are a lot of Russian and Chinese ships around Greenland, and that China exerts great influence there through investments.
“We do not share this image that Greenland is plastered with Chinese investments … nor that there are Chinese warships up and down along Greenland,” he said, according to the broadcaster. Rasmussen spoke to reporters after an emergency session of Denmark’s foreign policy committee and defence ministry with just one item on the agenda: “The Kingdom’s relations with the United States.”
Updated
Hours after Nicolás Maduro was captured by US special forces in Venezuela and indicted on drugs, weapons and “narco-terrorism” charges, Donald Trump spoke extensively about his plans for something else entirely: oil.
Venezuela’s oil reserves – reputedly the world’s largest – are set to be pumped by a parade of powerful US oil companies, according to the US president, most of whom have not operated in the country in decades.
“The oil companies are going to go in and rebuild their system,” Trump said on Sunday, describing oil’s nationalization in Venezuela as “the greatest theft in the history” of the US. “They took our oil away from us,” he declared.
US oil giants have been largely silent about Trump’s claim they will rush into Venezuela and invest billions of dollars in the process. Analysts are skeptical of the president’s vision of a significant increase in oil production in the country within 18 months. It’s far from the first time the industry has been at the center of global conflict.
Though Trump is expressing dreams of a US business takeover of Venezuela’s oil, such ousting of dictators from petrostates has not historically guaranteed a boom in production, according to data.
Updated
UK prime minister Keir Starmer is speaking at the House of Commons in the weekly prime minister’s questions and has been asked about Ukraine.
Starmer says he spoke to President Donald Trump twice over the Christmas period about Ukraine and that there is no gap between the UK and the US on the Ukraine plan.
Updated
Earlier we reported on how the oil price is dropping today (read here), but below is the latest from the Guardian’s energy correspondent, Jillian Ambrose:
Global oil prices have fallen by more than 1% after Donald Trump said Venezuela would hand over 30m to 50m barrels of the country’s blockaded crude to the US.
The deal would give the US president the power to sell up to $3bn (£2.2bn) worth of Venezuelan crude stranded in tankers and storage facilities into an already oversupplied global market.
The move threatens to drag on oil prices, which last year recorded their steepest annual fall since the Covid pandemic and could plummet further as oil producers continue to pump more crude than needed by the global economy.
The international benchmark, Brent crude, fell to just over $60 a barrel on Wednesday, while the US oil price fell by 1.4%, to $56.44 a barrel.
The oil grab also raises the prospect of a disruption to Venezuela’s oil exports to China, which takes about 80% of its crude exports, potentially forcing Beijing to pay higher prices for its crude and increasing tensions with the White House.
China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Venezuela “enjoys full and permanent sovereignty over its natural resources and economic activities” and that US demands for the country to hand over its oil “violate international law, infringe upon Venezuela’s sovereignty, and harm the rights of the Venezuelan people”.
‘Astounding’ vaccine change puts US behind peer countries, experts warn
The bombshell announcement that the Trump administration no longer fully recommends a third of childhood vaccines means the US moved from leading globally on vaccination to lagging behind other high-income nations in preventing disease, experts say.
The move is the latest and most significant escalation against vaccines from Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime vaccine skeptic and current secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“It’s the largest change in our vaccination schedule in modern American history,” said Jake Scott, infectious diseases specialist and clinical associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.
It is an “astounding” decision made without scientific evidence or public input that will worsen vaccine access and increase disease outbreaks, said Daniel Jernigan, former director of the National Center for Emerging Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
US health officials, led by Kennedy, “want fewer vaccines”, Jernigan said, adding that they’re inflating the risks while burying the benefits of vaccines and “sowing confusion” for parents and providers.
Some shots are now only offered to “high-risk” groups – including hepatitis A, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), hepatitis B, and vaccines to prevent two types of meningitis. The dengue vaccine will continue to be recommended in high-risk areas only. Other vaccines are offered only under shared clinical decision-making, a previously rare designation that usually requires a doctor’s recommendation – including influenza, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Covid vaccines were limited in this way in November. The CDC will also recommend one dose of the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine instead of two.
Health officials said in a press release that this will move the US closer to “peer, developed countries” as instructed by Donald Trump in December. Yet most other high-income countries have similar vaccine schedules to America’s now-jettisoned recommendations.
Updated
Ruaridh Nicoll has taken a look at whether Cuba’s bond with Venezuela can survive Donald Trump’s ousting of Nicolás Maduro. Havana’s long, fractious history with the US leaves it vulnerable if Caracas is forced to withdraw its support, he writes:
In Cuba, every discussion revolves around the implications of the US operation to capture Maduro. Can the island, already in financial crisis, survive the withdrawal of Venezuelan support? Does the US administration have a plan for Cuba? Are there people in the Cuban government willing to deal with the US? At the forefront, many Cubans are asking themselves: could it happen here?
“Anything seems possible after these events,” said Michael Bustamante, the chair of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. “But there are key differences between Venezuela and Cuba.”
In its attempts to oust the Venezuelan leadership, the US had already found itself in confrontation with Cuba. Havana has traditionally been shy about admitting its security and intelligence support of the Maduro regime, but it has had to acknowledge 32 Cubans died in the US military attack on Venezuela.
Explainer: Why is Donald Trump so fixated with Greenland?
Miranda Bryant, the Guardian’s Nordic correspondent, also has written this handy explainer on why Donald Trump is renewing calls for a takeover of Greenland:
Why is Donald Trump so fixated with Greenland?
Greenland has long been on Trump’s agenda but the reasons behind it have changed over time. In 2019, during his first term, he confirmed reports that he had been urging aides to find out how the US could buy the vast Arctic island, describing a sale as “essentially a large real estate deal”. Last January when Trump, then president-elect, said he needed control of Greenland he said it was for “economic security”. But in recent days he has said he needs Greenland “from the standpoint of national security” – despite the risk this would pose to the future of Nato.
Strategically positioned between the US and Russia, Greenland is viewed as increasingly important for defence and is emerging as a geopolitical battleground as the climate crisis worsens.
As well as oil and gas, Greenland’s supply of multiple in-demand raw materials for green technology is attracting interest from around the world – including from China, which dominates global rare earth production and has threatened to restrict the export of critical minerals. By acquiring Greenland, the US could keep China out.
The rapid melting of the island’s huge ice sheets and glaciers could open up oil drilling (although Greenland stopped granting exploration licences in 2021) and mining for essential minerals including copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Melting Arctic ice is also opening up new shipping routes, providing alternatives to the Suez canal through the Arctic that shorten the journey from western Europe to east Asia by almost half. China and Russia agreed in November to collaborate on developing new Arctic shipping routes.
Greenland is already an important military base for the US and its ballistic missile early warning system. The US has had a military base at Pituffik (previously Thule) since the cold war.
Updated
My colleague Jakub Krupa is reporting in more detail on the European reaction to Trump’s comments and potential plans for Greenland. You can follow that here:
Donald Trump’s administration is freezing more than $10bn in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, citing what it called concerns about fraud and misuse.
“For too long, Democrat-led states and governors have been complicit in allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch,” Andrew Nixon, HHS spokesperson, said in a statement.
The Trump administration has threatened federal funding cuts to organizations and states over a number of issues since taking office – ranging from alleged fraud in programs of states governed by Democrats to diversity initiatives and pro-Palestinian university protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.
On Tuesday, HHS said it notified the five states, all with Democratic governors, that its freeze applied to the “Child Care and Development Fund” worth $2.4bn, the “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families” worth $7.35bn and the “Social Services Block Grant” worth $869m.
In a statement, the department said the states’ access to those funds would be restricted pending further review. The administration has not laid out details of either the fraud claims or the widening plan to withhold funds, which was first reported by the New York Post.
Democrats condemned the freeze. “Our states should not be political pawns in a fight that Donald Trump seems to have with blue state governors,” New York governor Kathy Hochul said, adding the step was “vindictive” and “cruel”.
Guardian US media and power reporter Jeremy Barr has witten an analysis on how Maga media stars back Trump on Venezuela … mostly. Here is a snippet:
But in the days since the US forcibly abducted Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, with dozens killed as part of the night-time operation, Donald Trump has instead received strong support from his media allies, with a few on-again, off-again backers expressing some reservations.
“Generally, the party is going to stand with him on this and conservative media is going to stand with him on this,” former Republican congressman and talk radio host Joe Walsh said.
The conservative radio and television host Mark Levin, one of Trump’s strongest media defenders, not only celebrated Trump’s military actions but on Sunday called those who questioned the legality of the incursion, including Senator Bernie Sanders and the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, “pure evil”.
The coverage among opinion hosts on Fox News has also been overwhelmingly positive. Fox News host Laura Ingraham called the capture of Maduro “quintessentially Maga”.
Not everyone is falling in line. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who now runs her own company and has a radio channel on SiriusXM, mocked the pro-Trump coverage on her former network, even as she re-affirmed her support for the president. “I turned on Fox News yesterday, and I’m sorry, but it was like watching Russian propaganda,” she said on her Monday show. She said:
There was nothing skeptical. It was all rah-rah cheerleading, yes, let’s go. And that’s fine. I love our military as much as anyone, and I believe in President Trump, but there are serious reasons to just exercise a note of caution before we just get on the rah-rah train.
She said Trump’s actions to depose Maduro were clearly about global oil dominance and not “this bullshit about law enforcement”.
Graeme Wearden tracks the latest world business, economic and financial news in our daily liveblog.
Donald Trump’s ambition to supercharge Venezuela’s oil production would damage the climate, and undermine efforts to limit dangerous global heating, experts have warned.
Even raising production to 1.5m barrels of oil a day from current levels of around 1m barrels would produce around 550m tons of carbon dioxide a year when the fuel is burned, according to Paasha Mahdavi, an associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This is more carbon pollution than what is emitted annually by major economies such as the UK and Brazil.
“If there are millions of barrels a day of new oil, that will add quite a lot of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and the people of Earth can’t afford that,” says John Sterman, an expert in climate and economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Updated
Oil falls after Trump says Venezuela will send supply to US
The aftermath of the US intervention in Venezuela is continuing to send ripples through the markets.
The oil price is dropping today, after Donald Trump declared that Venezuela will send the US between 30m and 50m barrels of oil, which will then be sold … with the president controlling the proceeds, which could be more than $2bn.
There are currently millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil stashed on tankers and in storage tanks due to the US blockage imposed by Trump. The news that this oil could soon follow president Nicolás Maduro in an unexpected journey to the US had an immediate impact on the oil market.
US crude has dropped by 1.6% to $56.21 a barrel, as traders anticipate more supply hitting the market, adding to Tuesday’s losses.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, has dropped by 1.2% – back below $60 a barrel at $59.97.
The move also has geopolitical implications; two sources have told Reuters that supplying the trapped crude to the US could initially require reallocating cargoes originally bound for China.
You can read more rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news in our business liveblog here:
US legislators spoke out against the idea of military action against Greenland on Tuesday.
In social media posts, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, vowed to introduce a resolution “to block Trump from invading Greenland,” saying the 79-year-old Republican simply “wants a giant island with his name on it. He wouldn’t think twice about putting our troops in danger if it makes him feel big and strong.”
In a sharp departure from the party’s typical partisanship, Republicans also pushed back against Trump’s military-backed expansionism, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
House speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told reporters on Tuesday night that he did not think it was “appropriate” for Washington to take military action on Greenland, Politico reported.
Republican Senator Jerry Moran of the midwestern state of Kansas, who serves on the Senate intelligence committee, told HuffPost “it’s none of our business” and warned that the move would lead to “the demise of Nato.”
Nebraska Republican congressman Don Bacon put it even more bluntly in a post on X:
This is really dumb. Greenland and Denmark are our allies.
Trump administration escalates attack on Minnesota with more immigration agents
The Trump administration has sent more immigration agents to Minnesota, part of escalating attacks and rhetoric against the state and its immigrant populations in what immigration officials are saying is the agency’s “largest operation to date”.
“A 100% chance of ICE in the Twin Cities – our largest operation to date,” the official Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) account on X wrote on Tuesday afternoon. “If you’re a criminal illegal alien and/or you are engaged in fraud, expect a visit from ICE.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed on X that it is “surging to Minneapolis to root out fraud, arrest perpetrators and remove criminal illegal aliens”. Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Newsmax that the agency has in the city “the largest immigration operation ever taking place right now”.
CBS News reported on Monday that the administration would bring another 2,000 agents, both from ICE and homeland security investigations, into the state for 30 days. Lyons didn’t confirm the number of agents, but said it was an effort from both ICE and HSI. DHS wouldn’t confirm a number to the Guardian, but said that the agency has “surged law enforcement”.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, is in the state. She can be seen in a video produced by DHS of an arrest in Minneapolis of a man from Ecuador who the agency said is wanted for murder in his home country.
Operation Metro Surge, the agency’s name for its crackdown on Minnesota, has been under way since early December. Community members have fought back against ICE, protesting and impeding deportations, as some immigrants have stayed away from public life, avoiding grocery stores or medical care for fear of apprehension.
The fixation on Minnesota comes as the state grapples with several high-profile cases alleging fraud of social services, which have captured Trump’s attention and led to xenophobic comments from him about Somalis. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the US, and most Somalis in the state are US citizens.
The White House’s latest calls for a US takeover of Greenland come after the dark-of-night arrest of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, on Saturday. The next day, Trump said that he needed Greenland “very badly”, prompting a ramping-up of tensions among the US, the semi-autonomous Danish territory and Europe.
Greenland has repeatedly stated that it does not want to be part of the US. The idea is also unpopular in the US, where one poll found just 7% of Americans agree with a military seizure of Greenland.
In a show of solidarity on Tuesday, the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and other nations issued a joint statement with the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, urging the US to respect its sovereignty. They wrote in the statement that Arctic security was a top priority for Nato, a defense alliance that includes the United States and Greenland.
In a private briefing on Capitol Hill, the US secretary of state Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Monday that the administration would prefer to buy the island from Denmark rather than invade it, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Opening summary
Donald Trump has said Venezuela will be “turning over” $2bn worth of Venezuelan crude to the United States, a flagship negotiation that would divert supplies from China while helping Venezuela avoid deeper oil production cuts.
Trump said in a post online:
This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!
Venezuelan government officials and state company PDVSA did not provide comment.
Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship due to the blockade imposed by Trump, as part of the pressure campaign that culminated in the toppling of Nicolás Maduro who was seized from his country by US forces over the weekend.
Top Venezuelan officials have called Maduro’s capture a kidnapping and accused the US of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, however Tuesday’s supposed agreement is a strong sign that the government is responding to Trump’s demand that they open up to US oil companies or risk more military intervention.
Meanwhile, Trump and his advisers have said they are looking into “a range of options” in an effort to acquire Greenland, noting in a White House statement on Tuesday that using the US military to do so is “always an option”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement:
President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our adversaries in the Arctic region. The president and his team are discussing a range of options to pursue this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.
Leavitt’s comments came as the leaders of major European powers pushed back against Trump’s long-running desire to seize the Arctic territory. More on both of these stories in a moment, but first here are some other developments in US politics:
Trump’s administration is freezing more than $10bn in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said, citing what it called concerns about fraud and misuse.
The Department of Justice has released less than 1% of the so-called Epstein files, a court filing has revealed, as Democrats step up criticism of the Trump administration’s “lawlessness” for keeping records under seal.
The Trump administration has sent more immigration agents to Minnesota, part of escalating attacks and rhetoric against the state and its immigrant populations in what immigration officials are saying is the agency’s “largest operation to date”.
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” of Greenland and accused the US of “completely and utterly unacceptable” rhetoric. “Enough is enough,” he said. The prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen previously warned that an attack by the US on a Nato ally would mean the “end” of the military alliance and “post-second world war security”. It would, she said, be the end of “everything”.
The Trump administration has abandoned efforts to combat child exploitation, human trafficking and cartels as it diverts thousands of law enforcement personnel to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Democratic senators said in a letter to the White House.
Updated
