SCOOP: House Freedom Caucus lays out GOP battle plan ahead of Republicans’ huddle with Trump
FIRST ON FOX: House Freedom Caucus leaders are drawing battle lines as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill for the second half of the 119th Congress. The conservative group’s board of directors is sending a seven-page letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., outlining proposed policy goals on a vast array of topics from American elections, to immigration, to federal spending, taking on “rogue” judges, and housing affordability. It comes ahead of a policy forum that Johnson is hosting on Tuesday to lay out the House GOP’s agenda for 2026. Republicans are expected to huddle from 9:30 am to 6 pm at the Trump Kennedy Center, where they’ll hear from committee leaders and President Donald Trump. Trump’s remarks are expected to rally Republicans around passing their legislative goals for the year, but several people told Fox News Digital they also anticipate him focusing heavily on the U.S. government’s recent operation in Venezuela. CONGRESS ROLLS OUT $174B SPENDING BILL AS JAN 30 SHUTDOWN FEARS GROW The first policy goal listed by the Freedom Caucus is forcing the Senate to take up the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House early last year. They’re also calling on Congress to pass legislation limiting early voting and reforming the census to only count American citizens. On fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations, conservatives are calling on the House to “reduce or — at bare minimum — keep flat total federal discretionary spending levels” according to the document first obtained by Fox News Digital. The recently released $174 billion spending bill that the House is expected to vote on this week would reduce current funding levels for the agencies it covers if were to pass. Congress has yet to release information on six of its 12 remaining spending bills, however, while lawmakers face a Jan. 30 deadline to avert a government shutdown. The Freedom Caucus is also urging Congress to crack down on the recent fraud scandal taking over Minnesota’s social programs by eliminating “all programs exposed as rampant with fraud and place punitive measures on states such as Minnesota that have allowed rampant fraud.” “Federal prosecutors have estimated that widespread fraud in Minnesota tied to Somali day care centers, COVID-era meal programs, housing, and special needs assistance programs alone could exceed $9 billion,” the document said. “These revelations are startling, but just a drop in the bucket for a federal government that’s estimated to lose between $233 and $521 billion annually to fraud, according to government watchdog agencies.” The document called for the denaturalization and deportation of “anyone who has committed fraud against the American taxpayer,” specifically naming Minnesota’s Somali community, though doing so would likely require court intervention. Conservatives’ policy roadmap also called on Congress to “freeze all immigration to the U.S., except for (very) temporary tourist visas” for a temporary amount of time in order to revamp the U.S. immigration system as a whole. In a section called “Stop Rogue, Activist Judges,” the House Freedom Caucus urged the House to move forward on impeaching U.S. federal Judge James Boasberg “such as Judge Deborah Boardman, for reducing the sentence of a man who plotted and took steps to kill a Supreme Court Justice due to her indefensible views about transgenderism.” An earlier push by conservatives to impeach Boasberg failed to gain traction among the wider House GOP conference, though the chamber passed “The No Rogue Rulings Act” to limit the ability of district judges like Boasberg to issue nationwide injunctions. The policy roadmap also called to radically shift America’s global priorities by completely removing the U.S. from the United Nations and halting all funding to the international body. HOUSE GOP TENSIONS ERUPT AFTER MODERATE REPUBLICANS’ OBAMACARE ‘BETRAYAL’ “The UN is openly hostile to the United States, yet we remain its biggest source of funding. President Trump has significantly reduced wasteful spending on dangerous UN entities like UNRWA, and now Congress should go even further by enacting legislation such as H.R. 1498, the DEFUND Act, to completely withdraw the United States from the United Nations (UN) and end all funding and participation,” the passage read. Another section calls for banning stock trading for members of Congress, which Johnson said he would be in favor of last year. The push to ban stock trading has gained rare bipartisan support among both Republicans and Democrats, but no such bill has yet seen a House floor vote. Banning Sharia Law in the U.S. is also listed as one of the group’s policy goals, an effort that’s been led by Texas-based Freedom Caucus members like Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Keith Self, R-Texas, so far this Congress. While it was founded as a group that was frequently adversarial to Republican leaders for not being conservative enough, the House Freedom Caucus has gradually gained influence within the House GOP during the 119th Congress. Its chairman, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., has frequently stood alongside Johnson in his push for conservative legislative goals. Johnson notably spoke at the group’s 10th anniversary celebration late last year. Harris and Roy also made a public show of unity alongside House GOP leaders during the recent government shutdown. Republicans are going into this year, however, grappling with a razor-thin House majority and what’s expected to be a tough November election cycle.
The Briefing: How Capitol Hill reacted to news of Nicolás Maduro’s capture
It is the perpetual question in Congress. Was the Speaker briefed? When will they give you a briefing? I don’t know anything about that, because I haven’t been briefed yet. DEFIANT MADURO DECLARES HE IS A ‘PRISONER OF WAR’ IN FIRST US COURT APPEARANCE A Congressional “briefing” is supposed to shed light on unanswered questions. And the questions are legion after the U.S. military mission to extract Nicolás Maduro from Caracas. That initial “briefing” unfolded Monday night at the Capitol. Granted, not for every lawmaker. But the bipartisan House and Senate leadership, top members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, leaders of the Armed Services Committees, and the chairs and ranking members of the Foreign Affairs/Foreign Relations Committees. Democrats seethed that the White House did not notify Congress in advance of the operation. Granted, “notification” is different from a briefing. And it’s a far cry from Congress voting to authorize or suspend an operation under its Article I “war powers.” Democrats — and some Republicans — contend that only Congress can bless an operation like the one in Venezuela. But regardless, both sides wanted to know what comes next. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. “This is a military operation. We all know that,” said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, on CNN. “This was not an act of war or an invasion. This was the lawful apprehension of a fugitive from justice,” countered Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., on Fox. SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’ Most Democrats say the administration violated the Constitution, dispatching U.S. forces abroad without Congressional permission. “The President literally dropped into a sovereign nation, executed on this warrant, pulled the leader out with no plan for the next day,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn., on CNN. Some lawmakers fretted about President Trump’s future intentions and wondered if Venezuela was just a precursor. “Now he’s doubling down on this reckless policy,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on MS fNOW. “He’s thinking about Colombia and thinking about Cuba and Greenland. I mean, the average American is going to say, ‘What is going on in the White House?’” But at least one Democrat broke with some of his colleagues. “This wasn’t a war. This wasn’t boots on grounds and in that kind of a way. This was surgical and very efficient. And I want to celebrate our military,” said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., on Fox. At this briefing, lawmakers heard from Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Democrats questioned what the administration told them in previous briefings. “Marco Rubio personally, explicitly lied to me,” charged Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., on CNN. “We asked over and over, ‘What is the larger plan? Is there an effort at regime change being planned?’” However, most Republicans dismissed Democrats’ concerns and extolled the success of the mission. “This is one of the most complicated and exquisite military operations that has ever been conducted in the history of warfare,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a former Navy SEAL, on Fox. “This is the stuff that legends are made of.” “If President Trump won the battle against cancer and cured cancer, the Democrats would take the side of cancer,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. “It’s insane.” FETTERMAN DEFENDS TRUMP’S VENEZUELA MILITARY OPERATION AGAINST CRITICISM FROM FELLOW DEMOCRATS The calendar flipped to 2026. It’s a midterm year. And Democrats are already trying to use Venezuela against Republicans. Democrats believe the GOP’s focus on the Caribbean and South America gives them a political opening as they focus on pocket book issues. “The American people did not sign up for this kind of military adventurism when they voted for Donald Trump. They wanted a president focused on America first. Focused on lowering the cost of living. Lowering health care costs. Lowering grocery prices,” said Schumer. Democrats are now looking for parliamentary methods to impede potential future maneuvers – in Venezuela. Or perhaps elsewhere. “The reality is that to fund these operations, to fund nation-building, they need the approval of Congress,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., on CNN. Most funding for the federal government expires in a little more than three weeks. That includes separate bills to fund the Pentagon and the State Department. Few want a government shutdown. In fact, work on other spending bills has gone quite well. Expect a vote on a mini-spending package later this week. But military and foreign operations spending bills are among the nine measures left incomplete ahead of this next funding round. The ultimate power in Congress is that of the purse. It’s possible Democrats — and some Republicans who are skeptical of what the U.S. is doing in Venezuela — could limit or cut off funds for any operations there. Lawmakers will question what’s needed from the military or diplomats. All of that involves money from Capitol Hill. There’s uncertainty about what the endgame is. “I don’t know what ‘run the country’ means,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. “I would think that the United States does not want to be somebody running another country. Even in an interim.” TRUMP VOWS US WILL ‘RUN’ VENEZUELA UNTIL ‘SAFE’ TRANSITION OF POWER Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, represents a battleground district in eastern Iowa. She won in 2020 by six votes and by 967 votes in 2024. “We don’t want to have troops on the ground. Iowans don’t want that. We do not want nation building,” said Miller-Meeks on Fox. “We’ve got enough problems to clear up.” If lawmakers don’t like what they’re hearing, they could make the Defense Appropriations bill and the State/Foreign Operations measure tricky to pass. And, if Congress limits such funds, any continued operations in Venezuela must cease under the law. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is pushing a vote later this week on a war powers
Trump admin asks Boasberg for more time to detail CECOT plans after Maduro ouster
Lawyers for the Trump administration asked a federal judge for additional time this week to detail its plans to provide due process for nearly 150 Venezuelan migrants that it deported to the Salvadoran CECOT prison in March, citing the removal of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader who was captured by U.S. troops during a surprise raid in Caracas. In the motion for an extension, submitted to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, lawyers for the Justice Department cited the “substantial changes on the ground in Venezuela” and the “fluid nature of the unfolding situation” in the wake of the U.S. capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. They requested an additional seven days to comply with the court’s order. Boasberg, in response, told the Justice Department in a minute order that it had not complied with a local court rule requiring defendants in a civil case to first notify opposing counsel before asking the court for a delay – leaving the matter temporarily unresolved. The update comes after months of tension-filled status hearings between lawyers for the Trump administration and lawyers for the 252 Venezuelan migrants who were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in March under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 immigration law, despite an emergency court order that sought to block the administration from immediately using the law to quickly remove certain migrants. The status of the migrants, who were removed again to Venezuela from CECOT in July as part of a prisoner exchange, further complicated the case. The exchange and U.S. involvement appeared to indicate at least some level of constructive custody of the migrants, as the court observed, prompting additional status hearings in the case. It also made it more difficult for lawyers representing the plaintiffs to track down all 252 CECOT migrants, some of whom had fled Venezuela due to persecution in their home country, and who have since remained in hiding. BOASBERG SAYS TRUMP MUST PROVIDE DUE PROCESS TO CECOT MIGRANTS IN US OR ELSEWHERE The Trump administration proceeded with the deportation flights, kicking off a complex legal fight over the status of the migrants, the U.S. ability to facilitate their return – or at least to provide the migrants with due process protections – and an ability to challenge their alleged gang member status. Trump officials had argued that the people deported to CECOT were members of the violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, though the evidence they used to justify their designations has, in many cases, been disputed and determined to be lacking. Since March, Boasberg has attempted to determine the status of the hundreds of CECOT plaintiffs, and what ability the U.S. has to facilitate their return, or to provide the class of migrants with due process and habeas protections, including the ability to challenge their alleged gang status. Last month, Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to submit to the court in writing its plans to provide due process to a class of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador. He said the Justice Department must submit to the court by Jan. 5 its plan to provide due process protections to the CECOT class – which he said the Trump administration could do by either returning the migrants to the U.S. to have their cases heard in person – or to otherwise facilitate hearings abroad with members of the class that “satisfy the requirements of due process.” “On the merits, the Court concludes that this class was denied their due-process rights and will thus require the Government to facilitate their ability to obtain such a hearing,” Boasberg said at the time. “Our law requires no less.” APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT The Justice Department’s request for a seven-day extension did not challenge the underlying merits of the order. Instead, they cited only the changing circumstances on the ground in Venezuela, which they said necessitate the additional time. “Over the weekend, the United States apprehended Nicolás Maduro,” lawyers for the Justice Department said in their request for additional time. “As a result, the situation on the ground in Venezuela has changed dramatically. Defendants thus need additional time to determine the feasibility of various proposals,” they added. “Defendants therefore request a 7-day extension to evaluate and determine what remedies are possible.” SCOTUS TO REVIEW TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP Boasberg responded in a terse minute order, noting only that the Justice Department’s request “fails to comply” with the local rule in question, which requires parties to first confer with opposing counsel. He ordered the DOJ to file the relevant notice to opposing counsel by the end of the day. The update further stalls an ongoing court inquiry that has been on ice for months as the result of appeals court rulings, efforts to shield certain information from the court for national security purposes, and a separate, but related, contempt inquiry. The CECOT migrants were again moved in July from the Salvadoran prison to Venezuela, as part of a broader prisoner exchange that involved the return of at least 10 Americans detained in Venezuela. Their role in the prisoner exchange further complicated efforts to ascertain the status of the CECOT class plaintiffs, including some migrants who had fled Venezuela in the first place due to fears of persecution, including from gangs. That has made it difficult to contact the migrants from the CECOT class and determine how many of them still wished to proceed with their due process cases, as ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, previously told Boasberg in court. Some of them remain in hiding, Gelernt said, further complicating efforts to make contact. The ACLU lawyers told the court in December that, of the 252 Venezuelan migrants that were deported in March to CECOT, 137 still wish to move forward with their due process cases.
Over 1,000 arrested in ‘massive’ Minnesota operation, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles
Federal authorities have arrested more than 1,000 in Minnesota, including alleged murderers, rapists, pedophiles and gang members, after sending a surge of agents to the state in its “massive” response to the rampant fraud still being uncovered. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that since the agency “surged law enforcement” to Minnesota last week, it “has already made more than 1,000 arrests of murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members.” DHS said that among those arrested was a Somali criminal illegal alien named Liban Ali Osman, 43, who the agency said was convicted of robbery in Columbus, Ohio. Osman was sentenced to three years in prison and has had a final order of removal since May 17, 2011. Another, Vannaleut Keomany, a 59-year-old criminal illegal alien from Laos, arrested in the crackdown, was convicted of two counts of rape, also in Columbus. DHS said Keomany was sentenced to seven years in prison and has had a final order of removal since Dec. 17, 2009. FRAUD FALLOUT FORCES DEMOCRATIC GOV. TIM WALZ TO ABANDON MINNESOTA RE-ELECTION BID Federal agents also arrested another Laotian, Por Moua, 50, during the operation. Moua has convictions for first-degree great bodily harm, sexual intercourse with a child in California, and false imprisonment. A third Laotian, Sing Radsmikham, 52, was arrested in the operation and has been convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct using force or coercion in Roseau County, Minnesota. He has had a final order of removal since 2004. Tou Vang, a 42-year-old from Laos, was arrested and has been convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13. Vang has had a final order of removal since 2006. Somvang Phrachansiry, a 63-year-old from Laos, was arrested. He has been convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and has had a final order of removal since 2001. Javier Bulmaro Turrubiartes, a 49-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, was arrested in Minnesota. Turrubiartes has previously been arrested for soliciting children through electronic communication to engage in sexual conduct and convicted of hiring or agreeing to hire a child under 16 for prostitution. ICE BLASTS HILTON AFTER EMAILS ALLEGEDLY SHOW HOTEL REFUSING ROOMS TO IMMIGRATION AGENTS Another illegal from Mexico, Joel Cuautle-Ocelotl, 51, was nabbed in the roundup. He has been convicted of third-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury in New York and driving while impaired in Minnesota. Ban Du La Sein, a 47-year-old from Burma who has been convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct using force or coercion in Nobles County, Minnesota, was also arrested. Angel Edwin Quiquintuna Capuz, a 26-year-old from Ecuador, was arrested by federal agents. Capuz has previously been convicted of robbery in Columbus and been arrested for driving while intoxicated, assaulting a police officer, obstructing the legal process and disarming a peace officer. DHS surged roughly 2,000 federal agents and officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation branch and Homeland Security Investigations, according to CBS News. The outlet reported the operation will be a 30-day surge in the Twin Cities area. It also said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino will help oversee the operation. McLaughlin said that “while for the safety of our officers we do not get into law enforcement footprint,” she confirmed that “DHS has surged law enforcement” to the Twin Cities area. KLOBUCHAR WEIGHING RUN FOR MINNESOTA GOVERNOR AS WALZ ENDS RE-ELECTION BID AMID FRAUD SCANDAL Minnesota has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks after authorities revealed multimillion-dollar fraud operations in the state, resulting in dozens of arrests and indictments. Last week, Homeland Security announced it was launching a “massive operation” in Minnesota to “identify, arrest, and remove criminals who are defrauding the American people.” The announcement came after the release of a video by an independent journalist who questioned daycare center operators in the area. In an X post, the agency vowed to “root out this rampant fraud plaguing Minnesota.”
Walz decision to exit governor race intensifies calls from GOP lawmakers for his resignation: ‘Easy way out’
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced on Monday he is scrapping his re-election campaign for another term amid a massive fraud scandal in the state, but Republican lawmakers in Minnesota are calling the move an empty one. “Don’t mistake Gov. Walz’s retirement for accountability,” Minnesota state Sen. Mark Koran said in a statement to Fox News Digital after Walz’s Monday announcement. “It’s an attempt to avoid it. Republicans will keep holding ALL elected Democrats accountable for Minnesota’s fraud mess, spending every dollar of the $18 billion surplus, and raising taxes by $10 billion.” Accountability for Walz, according to several Republican lawmakers, involves him resigning as governor, which many have called for in recent months. CRITICS WARN MINNESOTA LEGISLATION NOW TAKING EFFECT IS SETTING UP THE ‘NEXT BILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD’ “The Governor is taking the easy way out, but it’s not good enough,” state Sen. Michael Holmstrom said in a statement. “Minnesotans deserve and demand an IMMEDIATE resignation.” “Governor Walz couldn’t take the FRAUD heat so he’s getting out of the kitchen, but I’m going to keep holding ALL Democrats accountable for Minnesota’s fraud mess, blowing through the entire $18 billion surplus, raising taxes by $10 billion, and making life less affordable for all Minnesotans while rejecting Republican efforts to stop fraud. I’ll keep exposing these failures and holding Democrats accountable for what they’ve done to Minnesotans.” Walz launched his bid for a third four-year term as Minnesota governor in September, but in recent weeks has been facing a barrage of incoming political fire from President Donald Trump and Republicans, and some Democrats, over the large-scale theft in a state that has long prided itself on good governance. HOW FEARS OF BEING LABELED ‘RACIST’ HELPED ‘PROVIDE COVER’ FOR THE EXPLODING MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL More than 90 people — most from Minnesota’s large Somali community — have been charged since 2022 in what has been described as the nation’s largest COVID-era scheme. How much money has been stolen through alleged money laundering operations involving fraudulent meal and housing programs, daycare centers, and Medicaid services is still being tabulated. But the U.S. attorney in Minnesota said the scope of the fraud could exceed $1 billion and rise to as high as $9 billion. GOP state Sen. Rich Draheim accused Walz in a statement of simply “passing the buck” with his “retirement” announcement while “blaming Republicans for his failures.” Minnesota Republican Sen. Andrew Lang echoed the messaging from his state party in a statement concluding that “retirement isn’t accountability.” “It’s him trying to wipe his hands clean of the fraud mess. But ALL elected Democrats own this. They fought Republican efforts to stop the fraud, failed to hold Walz’s agencies accountable, and let Minnesotans’ tax dollars get siphoned off by fraudsters.” Walz met Sunday with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota to discuss his decision to drop his re-election bid, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News’ Alexis McAdams. Word of their meeting comes amid speculation that Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County attorney who’s been elected and re-elected four times to the U.S. Senate, may now run to succeed Walz. “Make no mistake, I don’t want Tim Walz to be our governor,” Minnesota Republican state Sen. Andrew Mathews said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “But rather than swapping Democrat governor candidates, I want to FIX the damage Gov. Walz has done: Blew through an $18 billion surplus, Raised taxes by $10 billion, Oversaw one of the largest fraud scandals in the country, Left Minnesota for months chasing a failed VP bid, Now decides to leave office.” “This isn’t accountability. It’s avoiding it.” Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Jailed Palestine Action activist ends 60-day hunger strike as health fails
Prisoners For Palestine says activist Teuta Hoxha needs to be hospitalised but has been denied medical treatment by prison authorities. Published On 5 Jan 20265 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Palestine Action activist Teuta Hoxha has paused her hunger strike in the United Kingdom after more than two months without food while demanding immediate bail and the right to a fair trial. The group Prisoners For Palestine wrote on Instagram on Monday that Hoxha is in serious condition and needs to be hospitalised. It alleged the 29-year old has been denied proper treatment by prison authorities. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Hoxha “needs urgent medical care in hospital to prevent refeeding syndrome. The prison is refusing [her] medical treatment, which is required to prevent death in extreme cases of starvation”. Refeeding syndrome, a potentially fatal condition, happens when nutrition is restarted in a starving person too quickly. There was no immediate comment from prison or government officials. For the past 63 days, Palestine Action members have been on hunger strikes in prisons around the UK after being jailed over alleged involvement in break-ins at the UK subsidiary of Elbit Systems in Filton near Bristol in 2024. Elbit Systems is an Israeli defence company with factories and offices across Britain. Some members of Palestine Action are also being held for an alleged break-in at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, where two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint. The prisoners deny the charges against them, which include burglary and violent disorder. After Hoxha has paused her protest, only three of eight Palestine Action hunger strikers continue to refuse food as they demand their release. ‘Apartheid regime’ In July, the British government voted in favour of proscribing Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation – putting it into the same category as armed groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). Advertisement More than 1,600 people have been arrested in connection with support for Palestine Action after near-weekly protests for the ban to be revoked. The proscription is being challenged in court. The protest group, launched in 2020, has described itself as a movement “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”. Those still on hunger strike include Heba Muraisi, 31, and Kamran Ahmed, 28. Lewie Chiaramello, 22, is also refusing food every other day because he’s diabetic. The strikers have made five demands: immediate bail, the right to a fair trial, an end to censorship of their communications, “de-proscribing” Palestine Action and closing Elbit Systems factories in the UK. People protest at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Manchester, England [File: Gary Roberts/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images] Adblock test (Why?)
Trump has made US militarism worse
For many years before becoming president, Donald Trump publicly criticised the George W Bush administration over its decision to launch the war on Iraq. And yet, today, in his second term as president, he finds himself presiding over a military debacle that is quite reminiscent of Bush’s. Trump ordered a military intervention to remove an antagonistic foreign leader, based on a flimsy argument of national security, with the goal of accessing that country’s oil. In both cases, we see a naive confidence that the United States can simply achieve its goals through regime change. US intervention into Venezuela reeks of the same hubris that surrounded the Iraq invasion two decades ago. Yet there are also important differences to consider. The most important distinguishing feature of the operation in Venezuela is its lack of an overarching vision. On Saturday after Trump finished an hour-long news conference alongside his secretaries of defence and state, it was not clear what the plan was for Venezuela going forward, or if there was a plan at all. His statements threatening more attacks in the following days brought no clarity either. Past instances of US-led regime change fit into the larger ideological visions of the incumbent US commander-in-chief. In 1823, President James Monroe declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European colonialism. As the United States spent the 20th century consolidating its sphere of influence across the Americas, the Monroe Doctrine would justify various interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Cold War added new justifications for the United States to overthrow leftist regimes and install friendly governments in the Americas. Advertisement As the Cold War ended, President George HW Bush sought to serve as a caretaker for a “new world order” in which the US had emerged as the world’s lone superpower. When Bush sent troops to Somalia in 1992 and his successor Bill Clinton reversed a military coup in Haiti in 1994, they did so under the paradigm of “humanitarian intervention”. When George W Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, it was done under the umbrella of the post-9/11 “war on terror”. When President Barack Obama intervened against the forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, he was guided by the “responsibility to protect” doctrine concerning civilians in danger. But in the case of the US attack on Venezuela, there has been no ideological justification. Trump and his team have haphazardly thrown around references to humanitarianism, counterterrorism and more to justify the attack. The president even brought up the Monroe Doctrine. But just as it seemed that he was grounding his foreign policy in a larger ideology, albeit one borrowed from two centuries ago, he made a joke of the concept. “The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal,” Trump explained on Saturday. “But we’ve superseded it by a lot, by a lot. They now call it the Donroe Doctrine.” Trump did not make up this pun; it was used by the New York Post a year ago to describe Trump’s aggressive foreign policy as he threatened to annex Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal. The president’s decision to embrace the tongue-in-cheek term illustrates a disturbing reality of his foreign policy: Any notion that he is promoting an ideological vision is a joke. The truth is Trump is pursuing an increasingly aggressive and militaristic foreign policy in his second term, not because he wants to impose a grand vision, but because he has discovered he can get away with it. Striking a variety of foreign “bad guys” who have little capacity to fight back – ISIL (ISIS) affiliates in Nigeria who are “persecuting” Christians and “narcoterrorists” in Latin America – appeals to members of Trump’s base. After he mentioned the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua during Saturday’s news conference, he went on a minutes-long tangent to brag about his military interventions into US cities. While the president’s inability to stay on topic may be concerning for those questioning his health and mental fitness, this digression into domestic affairs had some relevance for his Venezuelan intervention, at least as far as he was concerned: His increasingly militarised war on drugs and crime abroad justifies an increasingly militarised war on drugs and crime at home. Advertisement Past presidents have used US power to pursue a wide variety of ideologies and principles. Trump appears to be paying lip service to past ideologies to justify the use of US power. Many times, the “good” intentions of previous presidents paved the way to hellish outcomes for the peoples who found themselves on the receiving end of US intervention. But those intentions at least created a level of predictability and consistency for the foreign policies of various US administrations. Trump, by contrast, seems driven solely by immediate political concerns and short-term prospects for glory and profit. If there is a saving grace of such an unprincipled foreign policy, it may be the ephemeral nature of interventions conducted without an overarching vision. An unprincipled approach to military intervention does not foster the kind of ideological commitment that has led other presidents to engage in long-term interventions like the Iraq occupation. But it also means that Trump could conceivably use military intervention to settle any international dispute or to pursue any ostensibly profitable goal – say assuming control of Greenland from Denmark. Last year, he decided tariffs were a potent tool for asserting his interests and started applying them almost indiscriminately on allies and adversaries alike. Now that Trump has grown comfortable using the US military to achieve a range of goals – profit, gunboat diplomacy, distraction from domestic scandals, etc – the danger is that he will grow similarly haphazard in his use of force. That does not bode well for the US nor for the rest of the world. At a time when multiple global crises are overlapping – climate, conflict and impoverishment – the last thing the world needs is a trigger-happy superpower without a clear strategy or a day-after plan. The views expressed in this article are
Colombia’s Petro promises to defend homeland amid Trump threats
President criticizes Trump, calling US threats an undue interference in Colombian internal matters under international law. Published On 5 Jan 20265 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Colombian President Gustavo Petro says he would “take up arms” for his country if necessary as the United States issues threats against him and his government. In a social media post on Monday, Petro, a former leftist fighter, said any violent US intervention in Colombia, such as the kind carried out in Venezuela over the weekend, would provoke a response. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “I swore not to touch a weapon again,” Petro said. “But for the homeland I will take up arms again.” Petro has emerged as an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, who has threatened Colombia with possible military strikes in the name of combating drug trafficking. The two leaders have frequently traded insults, but Trump’s threats have become increasingly hostile in recent days. The US president said over the weekend that Petro should “watch his a**” after the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, an act widely considered illegal by scholars of international law. Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Trump said a similar operation against Petro’s government “sounds good to me”. “Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump said. Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced Trump’s comments as “an undue interference in the internal affairs of the country, against the norms of international law”. Trump has accused Petro of facilitating the trafficking of drugs to the US, a claim for which there is no evidence and is firmly denied by Petro, who says his government has worked to combat drug production while taking steps away from the militarised approach of the war on drugs. Advertisement “I have enormous trust in my people,” Petro said. “And that is why I have asked the people to defend the president from any illegitimate violent act against him.” Adblock test (Why?)
BIG move by Ratan Tata’s company: Air India eyeing to replace CEO Campbell Wilson due to…; Here’s why
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