Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said the Insurrection Act wouldn't be needed "right now" in Minneapolis after meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the city, which has emerged as a national focal point in the clash over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The comment seemed to echo a similar retreat by President Donald Trump, who had threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to quell persistent protests against federal agents in Minneapolis before telling reporters a week ago that there wasn't a reason to use the act "right now."
Vance also responded to reporting that federal authorities are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant.
“We’re never going to enter somebody’s house without some kind of warrant, unless of course somebody is firing at an officer and they have to protect themselves,” he said.
An ICE memo obtained by the AP authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal.
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US completes withdrawal from World Health Organization
The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after Trump announced America was ending its 78-year-old commitment, federal officials said Thursday.
But it’s hardly a clean break.
The U.S. owes more than $130 million to the global health agency, according to WHO. And Trump administration officials acknowledge that they haven’t finished working out some issues, such as lost access to data from other countries that could give America an early warning of a new pandemic.
The withdrawal will hurt the global response to new outbreaks and will hobble the ability of U.S. scientists and pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines and medicines against new threats, said Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University.
“In my opinion, it’s the most ruinous presidential decision in my lifetime,” he said.
The WHO is the United Nations' specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats, such as outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and polio.
Nearly every country in the world is a member.
TikTok finalizes deal to form new American version of the app
The move avoids the looming threat of a ban in the U.S. that has been in discussion for years.
The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to form the joint venture.
The new app will operate under “defined safeguards” with an emphasis on data protections and software assurances for U.S. users, the company said in a statement Thursday.
The establishment of a U.S. unit marks the end of years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States.
Trump says US is moving fleet of ships toward Iran
The president said the move is “just in case” it wants to take action against the country over its crackdown on protesters.
“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday.
Trump said he had threatened Iran with military action that would make earlier U.S. strikes against its nuclear sites “look like peanuts” if the government proceeded with planned executions of some protesters.
A Navy official confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers left the South China Sea and began heading west earlier this week. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Thursday that the Lincoln strike group is currently in the Indian Ocean.
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— By Konstantin Toropin
House Republicans barely defeat war powers resolution to check Trump’s military action in Venezuela
Democrats forced the vote on the war powers resolution to direct the president to remove U.S. troops from the South American nation, bringing up a debate in the Republican-controlled Congress on Trump’s aggressions in the Western Hemisphere.
The Trump administration told senators last week that there are no U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela and committed to getting congressional approval before launching major military operations there. But Democrats argued that the resolution is necessary after the U.S. raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and since Trump has stated plans to control the country's oil industry for years to come.
Thursday’s vote was the latest test in Congress of how much leeway Republicans will give a president who campaigned on removing the U.S. from foreign entanglements but has increasingly reached for military options to impose his will in the Western Hemisphere.
So far, almost all Republicans have declined to put checks on Trump through the war powers votes.
Trump says he had a call with Venezuela’s Maria Machado
The president said he talked to the opposition leader on Thursday “just to say hello.”
Machado last week said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Trump during a meeting at the White House "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom."
Trump told reporters that Machado is “a good woman, a very nice woman,” adding, “she’s been through a lot.”
Trump says ‘we’ll see’ how SCOTUS decides Lisa Cook case
Trump said he has been monitoring the coverage of the government's case against Fed Governor Lisa Cook at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump said he didn’t get the impression the justices were inclined to rule in her favor: “We’ll see. I listened to some, I read some of it, and I didn’t get that impression, other than they thought maybe it should have gone through a normal court system.”
“Nobody is saying she’s innocent,” Trump said about Cook, who is accused of mortgage fraud.
Cook denies the allegations.
Jury finds Chicago man not guilty of circulating $10K bounty on life of top Border Patrol leader
Jurors deliberated less than 4 hours before returning the favorable verdict for 37-year-old Juan Espinoza Martinez. He faced one count of murder-for-hire and up to 10 years in prison if he were to be convicted in the first criminal trial stemming from the Chicago-area immigration crackdown that started last year.
Defense attorneys said Espinoza Martinez is a carpenter with only a few dollars in his bank account. They argued that he sent Snapchats amounting to “neighborhood gossip” to his brother and an acquaintance who turned out to be a government informant.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors argued he plotted to offer a reward for the killing of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led combative operations nationwide.
Trump planning to speak with farmers during Iowa trip next week
Asked about his coming trip, Trump said farmers “have been very special to me.”
At the end of last year, Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package, a boost to farmers who struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after he raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has said that Trump will be ramping up his travel ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump says hand bruising happened after he ‘clipped’ it
The president dismissed concerns about new bruising visible on his left hand, saying he “clipped it on the table” and applied cream to it.
When a reporter asked if he was OK on his flight back to the U.S. on Thursday, Trump said, “I’m very good.”
He noted he bruises more easily because of the amount of aspirin he takes, despite his doctor saying he doesn’t need such a high dose.
‘In about 2 weeks’ returns as Trump’s time estimation of choice
Saying that something will be announced "in about two weeks" is one of Trump's standard timeframes, something he stuck to on Thursday.
Pressed for more information as to whether Danish officials were on board with his plans for Greenland, Trump said, “I’ll let you know in about two weeks.”
Trump has also given that timeframe for other international decisions, including on whether the U.S. would make a direct attack on Iran last summer.
Trump says he stopped executions in Iran
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump repeated the claim that he personally stopped the execution of 837 mostly young male dissidents in Iran.
"There's a lot of killing going on," he said, adding that he would not comment on whether he wants to see the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei removed from power.
He added that any company that does business with Iran would be hit with a 25% tariff.
House approves final spending bills as Democrats denounce ICE funding
The House has passed this year's final batch of spending bills as lawmakers, still smarting from last fall's record 43-day shutdown, worked to avoid another funding lapse for a broad swath of the federal government.
The four bills total about $1.2 trillion in spending and now move to the Senate, with final passage needed next week before a Jan. 30 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Three of the bills had broad, bipartisan support. They funded Defense and various other departments, including Education, Transportation and Health and Human Services. A fourth bill funding the Department of Homeland Security was hotly disputed.
Before the votes, House Democratic leaders announced their opposition to the Homeland Security bill as the party's rank-and-file demanded a more forceful stand in response to the Trump's immigration crackdown.
Republicans were able to overcome the Democratic objections and muscle the Homeland Security bill to passage.
Trump says some European countries tell him they need permission to join Board of Peace
Trump said some European countries have told him they wanted to sign onto his Board of Peace but have to ask their legislatures for permission to do so, mentioning Italy and Poland.
Earlier Thursday in Davos, Trump inaugurated his effort aimed at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, insisting that "everyone wants to be a part" of the body he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.
Asked if he would chair the group past his term in office, Trump said he wasn’t sure.
“I have the right to be if I want. I’ll decide,” he said. “It’s, in theory, for life, but I’m not sure I want that.”
Trump says he thinks both Zelenskyy, Putin ready to end war
Talking with reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington from Davos, Trump described another “good meeting” with Zelenskyy while both were in Switzerland, although he said “numerous” previous conversations haven’t seemed to lead to the war’s end.
Saying “everyone’s making concessions” to try to end the war, Trump said he thinks both Putin and Zelenskyy are desirous of coming to some sort of deal.
“It’s really tough for the people of Ukraine,” Trump said, remarking on the country’s cold climate where he said it was “amazing” how residents have been able to persevere through difficult winters.
Trump sues JPMorgan for $5 billion, alleges the bank closed his accounts for political reasons
President Donald Trump sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion on Thursday over allegations that JPMorgan stopped providing banking services to him and his businesses for political reasons after he left office in January 2021.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County court in Florida, alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days notice and no explanation. By doing so, Trump claims JPMorgan and Dimon cut the president and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced Trump and the businesses to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere.
“JPMC debanked (Trump and his businesses) because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” the lawsuit alleges.
In a statement, JPMorgan said it believes the suit has no merit.
▶ Read more about JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon
Vance wraps up remarks in Minneapolis
After about a half hour of remarks and taking questions from reporters, Vance is done with his schedule of events in Minneapolis.
Throughout his news conference, Vance reiterated multiple times his opinion that the fraught situation in Minneapolis would improve upon better cooperation from state and local officials, also saying he hadn’t spoken with Walz.
Vance says Insurrection Act not needed ‘right now’ in Minneapolis
Trump has floated invoking the Insurrection Act to tamp down unrest in Minnesota, but his No. 2 says that’s not necessary.
“Right now, we don’t think that we need that,” Vance said Thursday.
Through the years, Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
Earlier this month, Trump said it could be necessary to quell persistent protests against federal agents sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
Trump wants Miami to host 2035 World Expo
The president announced he’s pitching Miami for the next Expo and putting Secretary of State Marco Rubio in charge of securing the bid.
“The Great State of Florida has expressed strong interest in hosting the Expo in Miami, which I fully support,” Trump said in a social media post as he makes his back to Washington from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Miami Expo 2035 can be the next big milestone in our new Golden Age of America.”
The World Expo has a storied history of bringing together nations to showcase technological innovations and cultural achievements. Since the inaugural event in 1851, Expos have been platforms for introducing groundbreaking inventions such as the light bulb, the Ferris wheel and the Eiffel Tower itself, which was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle.
The events have also served as opportunities for host cities to catalyze economic growth and global recognition.
Osaka, Japan, hosted the last one in 2025, and Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh is slated to hold Expo 2030.
Vance says ICE isn’t seeking to enter homes without warrants
Asked about reporting that federal authorities are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people's homes without a judge's warrant, Vance said warrants would still be part of the process.
“Nobody is talking about doing immigration enforcement without a warrant,” Vance said. “We’re never going to enter somebody’s house without some kind of warrant, unless of course somebody is firing at an officer and they have to protect themselves.”
An ICE memo obtained by The Associated Press authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal.
The memo has not been widely shared within the agency, according to a whistleblower complaint, but its contents have been used to train new ICE officers who are being deployed to implement the president's immigration crackdown.
Administration gathering data on federal funds in mostly Democratic states
Trump's budget office ordered most government departments and agencies to gather information on federal funds sent to 14 states and the District of Columbia.
All of the places on the list are controlled entirely or largely by Democrats.
A memo to federal agencies on the order doesn’t explain why it’s seeking details about those places and not others. But it says it’s trying to reduce fraud.
The order comes a week after Trump said he intended to cut off federal money that goes to states that are home to so-called sanctuary cities that resist his immigration policies. He said that would start Feb. 1 but he hasn't unveiled further details.
Vance predicts Minneapolis ‘chaos’ would ‘go way down’ with more local cooperation
Without specifying anyone by name, Vance said there had been a “failure of cooperation” between federal authorities and Minnesota officials.
“We can do a good job enforcing immigration laws without the chaos, but it actually requires cooperation of state and local officials,” Vance said.
Vance said he did foresee a situation in which circumstances could improve, noting, “I actually have some reason to think there will be better cooperation in the months to come.”
Democrat Tim Walz, Minnesota’s current governor, was Vance’s opponent during the 2024 campaign, when both sought the office of vice president.
Vance voices support for law enforcement in Minneapolis
Saying officers “are doing an incredible job,” Vance laid blame on the media and “far-left agitators” for heated clashes between protestors and immigration enforcement authorities.
Speaking with reporters after a closed-door meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Vance said his intended goal is to “tone down the temperature a little bit, reduce the chaos, but still allow us, as the federal government, to enforce the American people’s immigration laws.”
“Yes, come out and protest, protest me, protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully,” Vance said, with law enforcement officers standing behind him.
Trump administration times anti-abortion actions with Roe v. Wade anniversary
Expanded rules blocking foreign aid for groups that promote abortion are part of a broader package of moves the Trump administration is making this week that are being cheered by anti-abortion advocates.
Among them were the National Institutes of Health halting funding for research that uses human fetal tissue and the Small Business Administration launching a review into Planned Parenthood’s use of COVID-era loans.
The actions appeared to be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the now-overturned Roe v. Wade case and the annual anti-abortion March for Life demonstration in Washington, D.C.
“All of these things are fantastic news,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Jack Smith says Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters ‘absolutely’ do not make country safer
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith says he doesn’t understand President Donald Trump’s mass pardons of the rioters who were prosecuted after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Asked by a Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee if Trump’s pardons make the country safer, he said, “absolutely not.”
“I don’t understand it, and I never will,” Smith told the House Judiciary Committee.
Smith says Trump officials will do ‘everything in their power’ to prosecute him
Smith said he would “not be intimidated” by attacks from the president, adding that investigators gathered proof that Trump committed “serious crimes.”
“I’m not going to pretend that didn’t happen because he’s threatening me,” Smith said.
Rep. Becca Balint, a Democrat from Vermont, asked also Smith if he was concerned that the Trump administration was going to try to prosecute him.
Smith responded: “I believe they will do everything in their power to do that because they’ve been ordered to by the president.”
US names senior diplomat to remotely run US embassy in Venezuela
The State Department has named a veteran diplomat to run the Venezuelan Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia as it continues to plan for the potential re-opening of the embassy in Caracas following the ouster and arrest of former President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
The department said Thursday that Laura Dogu, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Honduras and Nicaragua and is currently the foreign policy advisor to Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Dan Caine, would run the unit.
Resuming operations at the embassy in Caracas that was shuttered in 2019, is a key part of the Trump administration’s plan to stabilize Venezuela.
Shortly after Maduro was removed in a U.S. military operation on Jan. 3, a small team of Bogota-based U.S. diplomats, communications and security personnel visited Caracas to look at the logistics of re-opening the embassy there.
Vance arrives for meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis
Vance’s meeting wasn’t expected to be open to reporters, although he’s expected to make remarks afterward.
The Republican vice president has played a leading role in defending the agent who fatally shot Renee Good during a confrontation this month, calling her death was "a tragedy of her own making."
Earlier Thursday in Ohio, Vance blamed the "far left" for turmoil surrounding the White House's deportation campaign. He also praised the arrest of protesters who disrupted a church service in Minnesota on Sunday, saying he expects more prosecutions to come.
Trump administration to block foreign aid from those promoting abortion, DEI and gender identity
The Trump administration is expanding its ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services to include assistance going to international and domestic organizations and agencies that promote gender identity as well as diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
An administration official said Thursday that the State Department would release final rules that expand the scope of a policy first established under President Ronald Reagan that has already severely reduced assistance to international organizations that provide abortion-related care.
The expanded policy would apply to more than $30 billion in foreign aid that the U.S. provides, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the rules’ publication in the Federal Register on Friday.
LGBTQ+ and abortion rights advocates said the changes would force humanitarian aid groups and others to choose between U.S. funding and the sometimes entirely unrelated lifesaving services they provide around the world.
New poll shows one group is particularly worried about inflation
Anxiety about costs and affordability is particularly high among Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians, even at a moment when economic stress is widespread, according to a new poll.
About half of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults said they want the government to prioritize addressing the high cost of living and inflation, according to the survey from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted in early December. In comparison, a December AP-NORC poll found that about one-third of U.S. adults overall rated inflation and financial worries as the most pressing problems.
The findings indicate that this small but fast-growing group is not persuaded by Trump's attempts to tamp down worries about inflation and defend his tariffs.
▶ Read more about how inflation and health care costs are causing concerns
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