President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with US oil companies executives in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 9, 2026. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration has been ratcheting up threats against Europe in the wake of its invasion of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro.
President Donald Trump finished up a busy week by once again leveling threats against longtime allies over their refusal to hand Greenland over to US control.
While taking questions from reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump was asked about a reported plan to win over Greenlanders on joining the US by giving them annual $10,000 payments.
“I’m not talking about money for Greenland yet,” the president replied. “I might talk about that, but right now we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.”
Trump: "We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not because if we don't, Russia or China will take over Greenland. If we don't do it the easy way we're gonna do it the hard way." pic.twitter.com/Pb29UqBzCC
Trump then explained his purported rationale for making Greenland a US territory.
“If we don’t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland,” he said. “And we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.”
Neither Russia nor China have shown any indication that they want to take over Greenland, which is currently a self-governed Danish territory. Because Denmark is a founding member of NATO, an attack on its territory from Russia or China would trigger a counterattack by all other NATO members, theoretically including the US.
Trump then informed the press that he would “like to make a deal the easy way” to acquire Greenland, before adding that “if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”
The president then claimed that he was a “fan of Denmark,” even though seconds ago he hinted at using military force to seize their territory.
“The fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land,” Trump said. “I’m sure we had lots of boats go there also.”
The Trump administration has been ratcheting up threats against Europe in the wake of its invasion of Venezuela and the US abduction of President Nicolás Maduro last week.
Top Trump aide Stephen Miller on Monday refused to rule out using the military to take Greenland, telling CNN host Jake Tapper that “we live in a world… that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
The oil tanker Olina is seized by US forces off the coast of Trinidad on January 9, 2025. (Screenshot from a video posted by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem)
The US has purloined over $300 million of oil in a month while enforcing a blockade, which UN experts say has “seriously undermined the human rights of the Venezuelan people.”
As President Donald Trump geared up for a meeting with fossil fuel executives about plans for them to tap into the “tremendous wealth” of Venezuela’s vast oil supply, the US militaryseized another oil tanker in the Caribbean off the coast of Trinidad on Friday morning.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted unclassified footage from US Southern Command of explosives being deployed and soldiers boarding the vessel Olina on social media.
“As another ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed Venezuela attempting to evade US forces,” she said. “This is owning the sea.”
The world’s criminals are on notice.
Early this morning, the @USCG executed a boarding and seizure of the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. As another "ghost fleet" tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed… pic.twitter.com/vvS3u3nrvl
Olina, which was reportedly carrying around 700,000 barrels of crude, is at least the fifth tanker seized by the military in recent weeks and the third in the last three days after the Trump administration imposed a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers leaving Venezuela in December, a move that has been credited with hastening the country’s economic collapse.
Earlier this week, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the US plans to manage Venezuela’s oil sales and revenues indefinitely following its illegal operation last weekend to topple and abduct President Nicolás Maduro.
According to the ship-tracking database TankerTrackers.com, the US has “seized five tankers and 6.15 million barrels in the span of a month, with the oil valued at over $300 million.”
The US has described Olinaand other ships it has seized as part of a “shadow fleet” that uses deceptive tactics—including flying false flags—to secretively transport oil for sanctioned countries, including Venezuela, Russia, and Iran.
The US has justified its blockade of Venezuela’s oil, as well as the overthrow of Maduro generally, based on the claim that its government is part of an alleged foreign terrorist organization known as the “Cartel de los Soles.”
In late December, a group of United Nations experts condemned the blockade and denounced this justification, stating that the alleged cartel does not exist. The US Department of Justice later acknowledged that the cartel was not an actual organization in its indictment of Maduro this week. Maduro has pleaded not guilty to US narco-terrorism charges.
The group of international experts, which included Ben Saul, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, and Gina Romero, the special rapporteur on freedom of association and assembly, described the blockade as “violating fundamental rules of international law.”
“There is no right to enforce unilateral sanctions through an armed blockade,” the experts said, citing the United Nations Charter, which describes blockades without UN Security Council approval as illegal acts of aggression.
They added that “there are serious concerns that the sanctions are unlawful, disproportionate, and punitive under international law, and that they have seriously undermined the human rights of the Venezuelan people.”
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods during a meeting with US oil companies executives at the White House in Washington, DC on January 9, 2026. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Trump must not give these companies billions in handouts and stick American taxpayers with the bill,” implored Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
ExxonMobil’s CEO told President Donald Trump during a Friday meeting that Venezuela is currently “uninvestible” following the US invasion and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, underscoring fears that American taxpayers will be left footing the bill for the administration’s goal of exploiting the South American nation’s vast petroleum resources.
Trump had hoped to convince executives from around two dozen oil companies to invest in Venezuela after the president claimed US firms pledged to spend at least $100 billion in the country. However, Trump got a reality check during Friday’s White House meeting, as at least one Big Oil CEO balked at committing financial and other resources in an uncertain political, legal, and security environment.
“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable,” ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told Trump during the meeting. “Significant changes have to be made to those commercial frameworks, the legal system. There has to be durable investment protections, and there has to be a change to the hydrocarbon laws in the country.”
Exxon CEO: If you look at the commercial constructs, frameworks in place in Venezuela today, it's uninvestable. Significant changes have to be made to these frameworks, the legal system. There has to be durable investment protections and change to the hydrocarbon laws. pic.twitter.com/vpdH6ftfzm
There is also skepticism regarding Trump’s promise of “total safety” for investors in Venezuela amid deadly US military aggression and regime change.
However, many of the executives—who stand to make billions of dollars from the invasion—told Trump that they remain eager to eventually reap the rewards of any potential US takeover of Venezuela’s vast oil resources.
The oil executives’ apparent aversion to immediate investment in Venezuela—and Trump’s own admission that the American people might end up reimbursing Big Oil for its efforts—prompted backlash from taxpayer advocates.
“Trump must not give these companies billions in handouts and stick American taxpayers with the bill,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on social media Friday. “And oil execs should commit now: no taxpayer subsidies, no special favors from the White House.”
Sam Ratner, policy director at the group Win Without War, said Wednesday that “already today, Trump was saying that US taxpayers should front the money to rebuild Venezuelan oil infrastructure, all while oil companies keep the proceeds from the oil.”
“This is not just a war for oil, but a war for oil executives,” Ratner added.
Noting that “Big Oil spent nearly $100 million to get Trump elected in 2024,” former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich—who served during the Clinton administration—described Friday’s meeting as “returning the favor” and “oligarchy in action.”
Trump shows you his priorities–Big Oil companies.“Running” Venezuela is all about enriching his donors.The American people are done fighting foreign wars to pad the pockets of oil executives.
Reich and others also noted that Trump informed oil executives about the Venezuelan invasion even before he notified members of Congress.
“That tells you everything you need to know: It was never about ‘narcoterrorism’ and always about oil,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said on Bluesky.
The legal watchdog Democracy Forward this week filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding information about any possible Trump administration collusion with Big Oil in the lead-up to the Venezuela invasion.
Other observers shot down assertions by Trump and members of his administration that the attack on Venezuela and Maduro’s ouster are ultimately about restoring democracy.
“Want to know who’s meeting with Trump this morning about Venezuela’s future?” Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) asked on X.
“Not pro-democracy leaders,” she said. “Oil and gas executives.”
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Portland Avenue and 34th Street in South Minneapolis where City of Minneapolis officials have confirmed an ICE agent shot 37-year-old Renee Good. Photo: Wiki commons
The killing occurred one day after 2,000 ICE agents were deployed into the city. Trump administration officials accuse the victim of having committed domestic terrorism.
On January 7, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a woman in the head in a residential neighborhood in South Minneapolis, firing into her vehicle at point-blank range. The woman was later identified by authorities as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.
A neighbor who saw what happened told local MPR News: “She was trying to turn around, and the ICE agent was in front of her car, and he pulled out a gun … and shot her in the face like three, four times.”
Within hours, federal officials presented a starkly different account from what eyewitnesses reported.
In a tweet on his Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump accused Good of “violently, willfully, and viciously” running over an ICE agent with her vehicle. The agent then “shot her in self-defense,” he claimed. US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the 37-year-old woman was killed after carrying out an alleged “act of domestic terrorism”.
“A woman attacked [ICE], and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over,” she said on Fox News, adding that the “officer acted defensively” when he shot the woman in her vehicle.
The fatal shooting comes a day after the Trump administration launched what it calls “the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever in Minneapolis-St.Paul.” About 2,000 DHS, ICE, and related personnel flooded the city on Jan 6.
Videos and eyewitnesses debunk Trump administration narrative
Reports from witnesses and local elected officials sharply dispute the Trump administration’s account of the incident. Witnesses on the scene say the woman’s car was blocking ICE, and ICE told them to move, and they shot her in her vehicle as she was driving away, as reported by BreakThrough News.
CBS News reported that witnesses saw a Honda Pilot blocked by multiple ICE agents. “An agent tried to open the driver’s side door. The motorist then put her vehicle into reverse, then into drive. Witnesses said they then heard three shots fired.” The car then crashed into a parked vehicle before stopping.
Videos circulating on social media seem to verify eyewitness reports of the killing.
The Minneapolis Police Chief’s statement underscored that Good was not the subject of any ICE operation, contrasting with federal claims that framed the killing as a response to a targeted threat.
Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the ICE operation and rejected the self-defense narrative of the federal government after watching video footage. During a news conference, Frey had choice words for the agency: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis,” the mayor said. “We do not want you here.”
As the administration framed the killing as a response to “domestic terrorism”, lawmakers, activists, and journalists have inverted that language, condemning ICE itself as a terror organization.
Rep Omar denounced the agency in a Facebook post after the incident: “ICE must stop terrorizing our communities and leave our city.
“They are the terrorists,” tweeted Lebanese-American journalist Rania Khalek, responding to the Trump administration’s claims. “They invade and bomb countries unprovoked, kidnap heads of states, murder their own people and then cry victim.”
The Party for Socialism and Liberation called the incident “cold-blooded murder” in a social media post on January 7, demanding justice for Renee and “an end to ICE’s reign of terror across the country”.
Disputed fraud allegations target Somali community
While a 2025 case involving the Feeding our Future program did result in several convictions, many prominent voices in the community have argued that the broader, more recent narrative has been distorted for political ends.
Much of the recent controversy seems to center around a widely-debunked viral video by far-right YouTube influencer Nick Shirley, in which he claimed to expose a USD 100 million fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in the area. JD Vance applauded the video, tweeting that Shirley deserved a Pulitzer prize. Local news outlets and state regulators on the other hand, refuted his claims and most of the featured daycare centers were found to be operating legally with active licenses.
Protests loom as anger spreads across Minneapolis and other cities
Although Governor Walz challenged the federal narrative, he has also alerted the Minnesota National Guard, putting about 13,000 members on notice to potentially deploy to the streets and confront mass protests, which are being called in the city and other areas in the country as anger mounts in response to the ICE killing.
Minneapolis has a recent history of mass protest against state violence, being the city that sparked a global movement after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which took place less than a mile from where Renee Good was shot. The ICE killing on January 7 adds a federal dimension to the city’s historic struggles. The incident may prove to be a catalyst for renewed mobilizations against militarized immigration operations, state violence, and federal overreach.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.The original Fascists Mussolini and HitlerOrcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Leadership of the Venezuelan government with acting president Delcy Rodríguez in the center. Photo: Vice Presidencia Venezuela
Rodríguez promised to respect the constitution and uphold national sovereignty following the US attack on Venezuela, which left more than 80 people dead and resulted in the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
On January 5, Delcy Rodríguez assumed the presidency of Venezuela. The former vice president swore before parliament that she would uphold the constitution and the sovereignty of the nation after the US attack on January 3, in which the US military took President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores prisoner.
The president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, urged the president to protect Venezuela “for her honor, for the people of Venezuela, for the example of the Liberators of America to zealously guard our sacred territory.”
Delcy Rodríguez stated that she accepted the task under very difficult circumstances, but that she would not rest until Venezuela was a free, sovereign, and independent nation. “I come with pain for the suffering that has been caused to the Venezuelan people after an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland. [There are] two heroes whom we have as hostages in the United States of America: President Nicolás Maduro and the first combatant of this country, Cilia Flores,” she told Venezuelan parliamentarians.
Rodríguez also promised to ensure an administration that guarantees peace for Venezuelans: “[We will build] a government that provides social happiness, political stability, and political security. [I ask all sectors of Venezuelan society to] move Venezuela forward in these terrible times of threat to the stability and peace of the nation.”
Although Rodríguez initially stated in a Council of Ministers meeting that Venezuela has only one president, Nicolás Maduro, a Supreme Court ruling ordered the vice president to assume the office of president to avoid a power vacuum.
The weight of the most dangerous presidency on the planet
Rodríguez has insisted in her recent speeches that her administration does not imply a break with the Chavista process. In this regard, she has taken every opportunity to demand Maduro’s release and condemn the US military attack. On January 6, Rodríguez declared seven days of national mourning for the death of the “young martyrs” who “gave their lives defending Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro.”
However, Rodríguez has now inherited an extremely difficult task while in the crosshairs of the most powerful army in the world. Trump himself demanded “full access” to natural resources, while warning of new attacks: “If [the new government] doesn’t behave, we will launch a second attack.”
Trump also stated that major US oil companies will begin operating in Venezuela and that, in addition to making significant profits, they will have to rebuild the South American country’s oil industry.
It is not yet clear what agreements Rodríguez has reached with a US administration that has demonstrated its military power and whose pressure on Caracas has reached levels of violence never before seen against Venezuela.
In this regard, with the threat of more deadly attacks on one hand, a virtually devastated air defense system on the other, and the top leader of Chavismo under arrest, Rodríguez does not have much room for maneuver or negotiation.
Hence, Trump has assured that Venezuela will deliver between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil (worth USD 2.8 billion) in the coming months, and news about the negotiations was confirmed by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA on Wednesday, January 8.
However, it appears that the Trump administration also recognizes, for the time being, Chavismo as the primary national actor with whom it can negotiate and achieve its geopolitical and economic objectives. Trump has publicly rejected María Corina Machado as the new leader of Venezuela and the idea that elections should be called immediately.
But it is still too early to draw conclusions in a situation that remains unclear amid the dust of missiles, gunfire, and collapsed buildings following the January 3 attack. What is certain is that communication channels have not been closed, nor have the agreements that, it seems, will continue to be made to avoid a new military scenario.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.The original Fascists Mussolini and HitlerOrcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
