Trump news at a glance: President ramps up unwanted advances on Greenland | Trump administration
Donald Trump has renewed his push for the US to acquire Greenland, the territory of Nato member Denmark. Leaders from Greenland, Denmark and several other Nato-member nations are pushing back on the president’s unwanted advances.
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”.
The White House’s latest calls for a US takeover of Greenland 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, 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.
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.
Leaders of Greenland, Denmark respond to Trump
Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” 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”.
Venezuela ‘turning over’ up to 50m barrels of oil to the US, Trump says
“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!” Trump said in a post online.
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.
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”.
Lawmakers mark (or downplay) fifth anniversary of US Capitol attack
Congressional Republicans were largely silent on the fifth anniversary of the January 6 insurrection on Tuesday, even as Democrats sought to use the occasion to condemn Trump and a small group of protesters convened on the grounds of the US Capitol in solidarity with those who carried out the attack.
Trump suggests US taxpayers could reimburse oil firms
Trump has suggested US taxpayers could reimburse energy companies for repairing Venezuelan infrastructure for extracting and shipping oil. Trump acknowledged that “a lot of money” would need to be spent to increase oil production in Venezuela after US forces ousted its leader, Nicolás Maduro, but suggested his government could pay oil companies to do the work.
DoJ has released less than 1% of Epstein files
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 department conceded that only 12,285 documents, totalling 125,575 pages, relating to the disgraced financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein have been published to date, despite a federal law requiring the vast majority to be released by 19 December.
Critical law enforcement work sidelined in drive to expand ICE, Democrats allege
Exclusive: 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.
Experts not sure US companies will invest billions in Venezuelan oil production
Industry experts have expressed skepticism over Donald Trump’s bullish prediction that US big oil firms will rapidly invest tens of billions of dollars to fix Venezuelan infrastructure and ramp up production after the rendition of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
Two Republicans oppose Hegseth’s censure of Mark Kelly
Two senior Republican senators on Monday openly opposed Pentagon secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to punish their fellow Senator Mark Kelly by demoting him and cutting his pension after he released a video telling active-duty military to follow the law.
What else happened today:
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Donald Trump’s claim of Venezuela’s oil reserves marks a global turn for his “drill, baby, drill” agenda, which experts warn would be costly and disastrous for the climate.
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Trump has received rapturous acclaim from congressional Republicans as he touted a “brilliant” and “incredible” attack on Venezuela that led to the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
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The US Department of Justice has released video transcripts of the man they believe killed two people at Brown University on 13 December and killed an MIT professor two days later. In the videos, the shooter talks about how long he planned the attack on the college campus.
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Doug LaMalfa, a California Republican who represented the state’s rural northern region in the House, has died at age 65, according to statements from Republican officials.
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George Conway, the former Republican turned Donald Trump critic and ex-husband of the US president’s 2016 campaign manager and senior aide Kellyanne Conway, is running for Congress.
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In a setback for the pesticide industry, Democrats have succeeded in removing a rider from a congressional appropriations bill that would have helped protect pesticide makers from being sued and could have hindered state efforts to warn about pesticide risks.
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A major Texas teachers’ union filed a federal lawsuit against the state on Tuesday challenging what it describes as unconstitutional investigations into hundreds of educators who posted comments on social media following the September killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
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The National Rifle Association (NRA) is suing its own charitable arm, the NRA Foundation, claiming that its leaders are trying to seize control of the gun rights organization and illegally “repurposing” $160m in donations to support their “thirst for power”.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 5 January 2026.
