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Will 2026 bring economic relief to the American middle class?

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Will 2026 bring economic relief to the American middle class?

Thursday, January 8, 2026, episode of the podcast The Excerpt: In 2026, many Americans will feel financially strained. As health care and housing costs remain high, what will it take to make America affordable again? USA TODAY financial reporter Andrea Riquier joins USA TODAY’s The Excerpt to discuss the ongoing affordability crisis.

Press play in the player below to listen to the podcast and follow the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated and edited in its current format for clarity. There may be some differences between audio and text.

Podcast: For true crime stories, in-depth interviews, and more USA TODAY podcasts, click here

Dana Taylor:

Regardless of political affiliation, 2025 was a year of economic uncertainty for many Americans. Changes in tariff policy, persistently high inflation, and rising medical costs have left many consumers reeling. Will the economy improve in 2026?

Hello. Welcome to this excerpt from USA TODAY. I’m Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, January 8, 2026.

This year’s buzzword is “affordable.” Will the new year make things a little easier for Americans, or will there be more suffering ahead? For more on this story, we speak to USA TODAY financial reporter Andrea Riquier. Andrea, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Andrea Riquier:

Hi, Danna. Happy new year.

Dana Taylor:

New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani won on an affordability platform that President Donald Trump initially called bogus. But the message resonates with Americans. Inflation soared during the Biden administration, primarily because of money pumped into the economy to avoid a deep recession during the pandemic. And second, disruptions to global supply chains have also resulted from the pandemic. Is high inflation still a factor in the economy?

Andrea Riquier:

of course. That’s a great question. In other words, inflation is defined as the rate of change in various consumer goods. For example, if you go to the grocery store today and buy eggs, milk, and bread, are they more expensive than they were a year ago or a month ago?Inflation has come down. It’s not as expensive as it was a few years ago. However, inflation has continued in recent years. That means the price, the starting price, is higher than it was, say, five years ago. Therefore, many people now go to the grocery store and see that the prices of things are much higher than before. Sure, the problem has been resolved in terms of rising prices, but again, prices are beyond what many Americans are comfortable with.

Dana Taylor:

Next, let’s look at the Fed and the president’s repeated calls for Powell to cut interest rates, then his resignation, and the subsequent failed attempt to fire Fed President Lisa Cook, all of which were unprecedented actions by this president. Of course, the Fed is an independent institution with extraordinary influence over the economy. What exactly is the Fed’s role, and could lowering rates help the economy?

Andrea Riquier:

That’s a great question. It’s a shame that the Fed has become so politicized. When it comes to the economy we’re talking about, the Fed has two roles. Sometimes I hear it talked about as double duty. Technically known as price stability, it controls inflation, prevents price frenzy, and achieves full employment. In some cases, these two goals may conflict. So, for example, if inflation really gets out of control, one of the best things you can do is raise interest rates so high that people think twice before they buy things, start businesses, or raise money. However, doing so would cause serious damage to the economy, in some cases affecting employment. People no longer want to hire or fire employees.

Would further rate cuts help right now? Probably not. So there aren’t a lot of people who say, “If interest rates went down by 25 basis points, we’d hire more. We’d expand our facilities. We’d start new business.” One segment of the economy that could benefit from a small interest rate cut are buyers in the mortgage market, or people looking to get a mortgage. And mortgage rates are not influenced by interest rates controlled by the Federal Reserve. So, unfortunately, it’s a little bit political to consider interest rates at this point in this environment, but that’s where we are right now.

Dana Taylor:

Let’s talk about medical expenses. This year, 22 million Americans saw their monthly insurance premiums go up. For some people, it can be more than double. Do Republicans in Congress have the political will to pass any solutions here?

Andrea Riquier:

Well, I’ve heard from some of my colleagues in Washington that the House is planning to consider a bill that would extend Obamacare subsidies and help some Americans with higher costs, but unfortunately I don’t expect it to pass in the Senate.

Dana Taylor:

Andrea, the job market was relatively weak last year. Are things any better this year?

Andrea Riquier:

Unfortunately, I don’t think so. I think there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the economy. We were talking earlier about whether companies are likely to increase hiring, whether they may lay off employees given the huge amount of uncertainty surrounding tariffs, economic policy, and upcoming midterm elections. I’d like to be proven wrong, but that doesn’t seem very likely.

Dana Taylor:

Housing is a major issue for many Americans nationwide. Supply is still not keeping up with demand. Gen Z in particular has expressed a lot of frustration about not even being able to enter the housing market. Are there any developments in this regard that give people hope?

Andrea Riquier:

Again, I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but as I said earlier, a lot of the constraints in the housing market come from supply. And that’s actually what’s happening at the local level. It’s not like mortgage rates are going to help you. It’s not something the federal government can enforce. It really goes down to the individual city, county, and even state level. Some states around the country are moving toward something near the edge that might help some people in some parts of the country, for example by allowing people to build small units in their backyards.

What I was even more encouraged by was the discussion you started at the beginning of this segment about affordability. There’s actually a recognition that this is a problem, that there’s a housing crisis, and that people are really suffering. And that’s probably the first step toward developing policies that will help.

Dana Taylor:

The next consumer price index is scheduled to be released next week. So what do we expect?

Andrea Riquier:

First of all, it must be said that last fall there was a government shutdown for an unprecedented period of time. This has had a major impact on the data collected and disseminated by agencies such as the Department of Labor. So we’ll have some kind of rough data for a while. If these issues can be resolved smoothly, we can expect inflation to spike in the spring when tax refunds are issued. That’s because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed last summer, will be applied retroactively, meaning many people will receive large refunds in the spring and, if possible, spend them.

Dana Taylor:

It’s only January, Andrea, I know, but tax season comes around fast. Will most Americans receive any relief from the tax cuts passed in President Trump’s Big Beautiful Act?

Andrea Riquier:

I think most Americans will get some sort of tax break. The tax system is a little more complicated. If you’ve never done it before but are on the fence, this might be the year to seek professional help. We have great information about what’s coming. But the simple answer is, “Yes, most Americans will see their taxes somewhat lower, at least temporarily.” These benefits are more pronounced for high-income Americans than for low-income Americans.

Dana Taylor:

Andrea, any final thoughts? thank you.

Andrea Riquier:

Well, I think there’s a lot to be optimistic about. Unemployment remains very low. Inflation is under control. We are now approaching midterm elections, where people who are dissatisfied with politicians can express it at the ballot box. And I think about the economy every day.

Dana Taylor:

Andrea Rikier is a finance reporter for USA TODAY. Thank you for joining us on The Excerpt.

Andrea Riquier:

Thank you, Danna. be careful.

Dana Taylor:

We would like to thank Senior Producer Kaely Monahan for her production assistance. Executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think about this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thank you for your attention. I’m Dana Taylor. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be back with another episode of USA TODAY Excerpts.

How will President Trump’s Greenland saga unfold?

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How will President Trump’s Greenland saga unfold?

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This is an updated version of a story first published in March 2025.

Part of it: The world’s largest island, 80% of which is covered in ice. Danish and Greenlandic leaders say the American people and the president need to understand that Greenland is not for sale. I can’t take that. It’s “our”.

In the other corner is President Donald Trump, who appears determined to use his second term to seize the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic territory to become the nation’s 51st state.

President Trump said he intends to get Greenland “one way or another,” as he said in a joint address to Congress on March 4, 2025. President Trump has repeatedly said in recent days that he wants to gain control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, fresh from overseeing the U.S. military operation that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power. The White House said Trump was discussing options including the possible use of U.S. troops, a move that would shock the NATO alliance and deepen the rift between Trump and European leaders.

“Buy us!”: Greenlanders are shocked, intrigued and perplexed by President Trump’s enthusiasm for the Arctic

Greenland is part of Denmark. This has been the case since the 18th century. It has its own local government, with a parliament that oversees some internal and civil affairs. Laws related to Greenland’s defense, national security and economy are controlled by policymakers in Copenhagen, more than 3,000 miles away. (The closest U.S. point to Greenland is about 1,600 miles.) President Trump first announced his intention to purchase Greenland in 2019 during his first term.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault said on January 7 that his country was working with its European partners to consider how to respond if the United States were to respond to the threat of taking over Greenland.

Here are six ways the Greenland story could unfold.

Greenland votes for independence, asks to join US

Greenlanders have been debating for years whether they would be better off living as an independent country, which could happen if a referendum were held, but Denmark has said it would allow it if: sufficient amount The people voted to hold such a vote. Independence from Denmark was also a key issue in a separate parliamentary vote in Greenland last year. However, public opinion polls consistently show that while most Greenlanders want independence, they do so only without losing the standard of living supported by Denmark’s welfare state. And since President Trump’s obsession with Greenland resurfaced, polls have shown that a majority of Greenlanders do not want their island to become part of the United States.

“Crazy beauty with a dark side”: Greenland, but not as you know it

“free” association

Kuno Fenker, a pro-independence Greenland opposition lawmaker who attended Trump’s inauguration, said reports that the Trump administration wanted Greenland to sign the so-called Compact of Free Association had been circulating for years, likely starting with an article co-authored by Trump’s new Arctic Commissioner Thomas Dance in 2024.

In this scenario, the United States would provide essential services, security, and free trade to Greenland in exchange for unrestricted military operations within Greenland’s territory. Fenker said the inspiration for the initiative would be similar to agreements the U.S. has made with Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau. However, Greenland would likely need to vote for independence first. Danish officials and political scientists also point out that the United States already enjoys unhindered military access to Greenland as part of a defense agreement with the Danish government.

President Trump is trying to buy Greenland

Despite Denmark’s repeated insistence that it is not for sale, it is not actually clear how the Trump administration could buy Greenland from Denmark. There is no clear legal or commercial pathway to achieve that.

Yet, by coincidence, the last foreign territory the United States purchased was from Denmark. Purchased the Virgin Islands in 1917 for $25 million. Some subsequent U.S. territorial expansion in the South Pacific was the result of annexations and treaties, according to the Global Policy Forum, a watchdog group.

Usha Vance’s Greenland adventures: Why a dog sled race over ice and snow went off the rails

Wikistrat, a global risk consultancy, said one theoretical scenario for purchasing Greenland would be for the United States to propose a long-term lease of Greenland from Denmark, although this would require an agreement between Greenland and Denmark. This would be similar to what China did with Hong Kong territory when it leased it to Britain for 99 years from 1898 to 1997. In another theoretical scenario, Greenland could give the United States what Wikistrat calls a “minority stake” in its governance, primarily in the areas of security and foreign policy. This means the United States will likely have to take on the roughly $800 million in annual subsidies currently provided by Denmark.

The Wall Street Journal reports that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently told lawmakers that the Trump administration’s goal is to purchase the island from Denmark. Dans and other U.S. government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

President Trump puts economic pressure on Greenland and Denmark

President Trump has used the threat and imposition of tariffs as a means to achieve his policy goals. He deployed these to Canada, Mexico, and China, the three largest trading partners of the United States. He has imposed tariffs on countries such as the European Union (EU), a 27-nation economic bloc of which Denmark is a member. The US president could significantly increase tariffs on Danish and even EU products to force concessions from Denmark regarding Greenland. Denmark is a major exporter of pharmaceutical products, including insulin. For example, the Danish company Novo Nordisk produces Ozempic, a diabetes drug that helps people lose weight.

“Che Guevara of Greenland”: Trump’s night with his North Pole “son”

International law firm Pillsbury has concluded that President Trump may seek to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to impose tariffs on imports from Denmark. This law gives the US president broad powers to raise tariffs in the name of US national and economic security. Russia and China have an increasing presence in the Arctic region near Greenland, which holds vast deposits of rare earth minerals, but accessing and processing them will be a logistical challenge. The United States relies on China and other countries for its rare earth needs.

President Trump invades Greenland

A U.S. invasion of Greenland would be far-fetched and could amount to the proverbial nuclear option, but President Trump has not explicitly ruled it out. Such an invasion would, in theory, also invoke NATO Article 5, which states that an attack on one member state is an attack on all members. However, this mutual defense clause is complicated by the fact that Denmark and the United States are both NATO members. It is unclear how that rectangle is enclosed.

Furthermore, in a March speech to Congress, President Trump said he “strongly” supports Greenland’s “right to determine its own future,” suggesting that even if he is willing to persevere with attempts to absorb Greenland into the United States, a military option is unlikely.

A senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump’s statements on Greenland were contradictory. Rubio said in a January 6 interview with the Wall Street Journal that a U.S. invasion was not imminent.

Danish political scientist Jesper Willein Zeuten said many people in Denmark didn’t pay much attention to Greenland until President Trump started talking about acquiring it. He said the United States is a country that Danes “love for its values ​​and its sports,” but Trump’s comments have soured Danes’ opinion. “He made us want to fight for Greenland,” he said.

Greenlandic Ola Joelsen, a prison official in the island’s capital Nuuk who frequently comments on territory and politics on social media, said on January 6 that her family felt in danger because of President Trump’s threat to take over the island.

“Even more poignant tonight was the question: ‘Should we leave Greenland before it’s too late?'” Joelsen wrote to X.

President Trump’s Greenland aspirations fade

It appears that Trump may lose interest. That nothing dramatic actually happens.

Greenland already has an important US military base called Thule Air Base in the northern part of the island. With permission from Greenland and Denmark, the United States could expand its military presence there by deploying additional troops, upgrading missile defense systems, and building new Arctic infrastructure.

Anne Merrild is a professor at Aalborg University. Her research focuses on the Arctic and its resources. He said that if President Trump’s interest in Greenland is primarily driven by security concerns and gaining control of Greenland’s mineral licenses, “these objectives are likely to be achieved through negotiations between Greenland and the United States without requiring any form of U.S. takeover.”

Agentic AI scaling requires new memory architecture

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Agentic AI scaling requires new memory architecture

Agentic AI represents a clear evolution from stateless chatbots to complex workflows, and its expansion requires new memory architectures.

As underlying models scale up to trillions of parameters and context windows reach millions of tokens, the computational cost of remembering history is increasing faster than the ability to process it.

Organizations deploying these systems currently face a bottleneck where vast amounts of “long-term memory” (technically known as key-value (KV) cache) overwhelm existing hardware architectures.

Today’s infrastructure forces you to choose between storing inference context in scarce high-bandwidth GPU memory (HBM) or allocating it to slower general-purpose storage. The former is prohibitively expensive in large-scale contexts. The latter introduces delays and prevents real-time agent interactions.

To address this growing disparity that is hindering the scaling of agent AI, NVIDIA introduced the Inference Context Memory Storage (ICMS) platform within the Rubin architecture, proposing a new storage layer specifically designed to handle the ephemeral and fast nature of AI memory.

“AI is revolutionizing the entire computing stack and now storage,” Huang said. “AI is no longer a one-shot chatbot, but an intelligent collaborator who understands the physical world, reasons with a long-term view, acts on facts, uses tools to do real work, and retains both short-term and long-term memory.”

The operational challenge lies in the specific behavior of transformer-based models. To avoid recomputing the entire conversation history every time a new word is generated, the model stores the previous state in the KV cache. In agent workflows, this cache acts as persistent memory across tools and sessions, and grows linearly with the length of the sequence.

This creates separate data classes. Unlike financial records or customer logs, KV Cash is derived data. This is essential for immediate performance, but does not require the strong durability guarantees of enterprise file systems. General-purpose storage stacks running on standard CPUs spend energy on metadata management and replication that is not needed by agent workloads.

The current hierarchy, ranging from GPU HBM (G1) to shared storage (G4), is becoming inefficient.

(Credit: NVIDIA)

Efficiency drops sharply as context leaks from the GPU (G1) to system RAM (G2) and eventually to shared storage (G4). Moving active contexts to the G4 layer introduces millisecond-level latency, increases per-token power cost, and leaves expensive GPUs idle while waiting for data.

For enterprises, this manifests itself as a bloated total cost of ownership (TCO), with power wasted on infrastructure overhead rather than active inference.

New memory layer for AI factories

The industry response includes inserting a dedicated layer into this hierarchy. The ICMS platform establishes a “G3.5” layer, an Ethernet-attached flash layer explicitly designed for gigascale inference.

This approach integrates storage directly into compute pods. By leveraging the NVIDIA BlueField-4 data processor, the platform offloads the management of this context data from the host CPU. The system facilitates agent AI scaling by providing petabytes of shared capacity per pod, allowing agents to maintain large amounts of history without hogging expensive HBM.

Operational benefits can be quantified in throughput and energy. By preserving the context associated with this middle layer (faster than standard storage but cheaper than HBM), the system can “prestige” memory back to the GPU before it is needed. This reduces GPU decoder idle time and enables up to 5x more tokens per second (TPS) for long-context workloads.

From an energy perspective, the impact is equally measurable. This architecture eliminates the overhead of general purpose storage protocols and is therefore 5x more power efficient than traditional methods.

Data plane integration

Implementing this architecture requires IT teams to look at storage networks differently. The ICMS platform leverages NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet to provide the high-bandwidth, low-jitter connectivity needed to treat flash storage as if it were local memory.

For enterprise infrastructure teams, the integration point is the orchestration layer. Frameworks such as NVIDIA Dynamo and Inference Transfer Library (NIXL) manage the movement of KV blocks between tiers.

These tools work with the storage layer to ensure that the correct context is loaded into GPU memory (G1) or host memory (G2) exactly when the AI ​​model needs it. The NVIDIA DOCA framework further supports this by providing a KV communication layer that treats context caches as first-class resources.

Major storage vendors already support this architecture. Companies such as AIC, Cloudian, DDN, Dell Technologies, HPE, Hitachi Vantara, IBM, Nutanix, Pure Storage, Supermicro, VAST Data, and WEKA are building platforms using BlueField-4. These solutions are expected to be available in the second half of this year.

Redefining your infrastructure to scale agent AI

Adopting a dedicated context memory layer has implications for capacity planning and data center design.

  • Reclassify data: CIOs need to recognize KV cache as a unique data type. This is “temporary but delay-sensitive,” as opposed to “persistent and cold” compliance data. The G3.5 layer handles the former, allowing durable G4 storage to focus on long-term logs and artifacts.
  • Orchestration maturity: Success depends on software that can intelligently place workloads. The system uses topology-aware orchestration (via NVIDIA Grove) to place jobs near cached contexts and minimize data movement across the fabric.
  • Power density: By fitting more usable capacity into the same rack footprint, organizations can extend the life of their existing facilities. However, this increases the computing density per square meter, which requires proper cooling and power distribution planning.

Migration to agent AI requires physical reconfiguration of your data center. The common model of completely separating computing from slow persistent storage is incompatible with the real-time search needs of agents with photographic memories.

By introducing a specialized context layer, companies can decouple model memory growth from GPU HBM costs. This architecture for Agent AI allows multiple agents to share a large, low-power memory pool to reduce the cost of processing complex queries and improve scaling by enabling high-throughput inference.

As organizations plan their next cycle of infrastructure investments, evaluating the efficiency of their memory hierarchy will be as important as choosing the GPUs themselves.

See also: The AI ​​chip wars of 2025: What business leaders have learned about supply chain realities

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Trae Young trades grades in contract with Hawks and Wizards

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Trae Young trades grades in contract with Hawks and Wizards

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The Atlanta Hawks have traded guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, a person familiar with the deal told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been finalized.

Young was in his eighth season with the Hawks, but signs that his tenure was coming to an end have become evident in recent months. He was the franchise’s all-time leader in assists (4,837) and 3-point shots (1,295).

Young has appeared in just 10 games this season and did not play Wednesday due to a quadriceps injury. News of the trade surfaced during the team’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, where Young was seen hugging members of the organization.

The four-time NBA All-Star is averaging 19.3 points, 8.9 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game this season.

Entering Thursday’s game, the Hawks were 18-21 on the season and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. However, the Hawks have a 16-13 record when Young is not in the lineup.

The trade will keep Young in the Eastern Conference, joining the Wizards, who are 10-26 and 14th out of 15 teams in the conference standings.

Trae Young’s trade performance

wizard

Young has helped provide an offensive spark to a team that has struggled in recent seasons and has been without a superstar-level player on its roster since Bradley Beal left after the 2022-23 season.

Young is not known for his defensive ability and could be seen as a liability on that side of the floor. He will also become a free agent after the season and may have a player option for the 2026-27 season.

school year:B

hawks

McCollum may not be the standout player he was in Portland, but he will bring a veteran presence to the locker room of one of the youngest teams in the NBA this season. On the court, he played in 35 games, averaging 18.8 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Kispert played the first five seasons of his career in Washington. He played in 80 games in the 2023-24 season, but played in just 61 games last season and did not start. He started two of the 19 games he played for the Wizards this season. He averaged 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists during his career. Kispert did not play Tuesday due to a hamstring injury, and McCollum was also absent.

school year:B

Steny Hoyer to retire from Congress after 40 years

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Steny Hoyer to retire from Congress after 40 years

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Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer will not run again and plans to retire from Congress, he told The Washington Post, ending his more than 40-year career in Congress.

“I obviously didn’t want to be one of those members who stayed and stayed beyond their ability to do the job,” Hoyer admitted to the newspaper on Jan. 7, adding that he plans to officially announce his retirement in a speech on the House floor on Jan. 8.

The New York Times and Politico also reported that Hoyer’s retirement is near, citing people familiar with his decision.

Hoyer said in a Facebook post that he will speak in the House chamber on January 8 at 10 a.m. ET, but did not provide details of the speech.

Mr. Hoyer is the third-longest serving member of Congress, behind Republican Representatives Hal Rogers and Chris Smith, who began their careers in January 1981. Before joining Congress, he spent more than a decade in the Maryland State Senate, where he served as president.

Mr. Hoyer was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1981, representing Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, which covers the southern tip of the state.

“Dear San Francisco”: Nancy Pelosi announces retirement after groundbreaking career

Hoyer was elected majority leader under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2022, and served as minority whip when Republicans controlled the House. In 2007, he became the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives from Maryland in U.S. history.

He and Pelosi will step down as leaders in 2022, supporting New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries to replace him. In 2024, Heuer suffered a mild stroke.

Contributed by: Reuters

Donald Trump withdraws US from UN agencies and major climate change treaties

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Donald Trump withdraws US from UN agencies and major climate change treaties

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President Donald Trump announced in a Jan. 7 memo that the United States will withdraw from more than 50 international cooperation agreements, including treaties and organizations with the United Nations on climate change and oceans.

Among the organizations the United States will withdraw from are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The list also includes agreements and organizations on renewable energy, oceans, piracy, counter-terrorism and women’s empowerment.

The memo’s title states that 66 entities, treaties, and agreements, including 31 associated with the United Nations, are “contrary to U.S. interests.” The reversal follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s review of all international organizations, treaties, and treaties to which the United States is affiliated or a member, at the request of President Trump.

Table visualization

The White House said the withdrawal “will end U.S. taxpayer funding and involvement in organizations that promote globalist policies over U.S. priorities or that address important issues inefficiently or ineffectively so that U.S. taxpayer funds are best allocated to other ways to support related missions,” Reuters reported.

The Framework Convention on Climate Change was ratified by the U.S. Senate in October 1992 and signed by former President George HW Bush. The United States was the first developed country to sign this treaty.

At the time, President Bush called it “the first step in an important long-term international effort to address climate change.” The treaty committed countries to inventorying all sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, and establishing national climate change programs.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the United States will be the only country in the world not to join the framework. The United States has never withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord, although the country has already submitted its second letter of intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, according to the scientists involved.

The move to withdraw from the framework and the IPCC follows actions taken by the Trump administration in 2025 to downplay climate change, including a directive that federal employees not be involved in the IPCC’s next report. The IPCC is considered the world’s leading group studying climate change.

“Green fraud”: President Trump accepts climate change, emphasizes energy policy in UN speech

“A strategic failure that robs America of its superiority.”

With a report on global temperatures for 2025 to be released in the coming days, leading organizations and climate scientists are predicting that this year will be the second or third warmest year on record globally. Several groups quickly criticized the withdrawal from international cooperation on climate change and oceans, saying it would harm U.S. residents and U.S. businesses.

David Widowski, director of the World Resources Institute, WRI US, said that withdrawing from the Framework Convention on Climate Change is a “strategic failure that gives the United States an advantage for nothing in return.” “Withdrawal does not just put the United States on the sidelines, it removes the United States from the scene entirely,” Widowsky added.

Widowsky said the measure would leave American communities and businesses losing economic footing as other countries take advantage of the “burgeoning clean energy economy.”

Rachel Cleetus, policy director and chief economist for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy Program, said withdrawing from the global climate agreement is a “new low” for the administration. She added that this is “another sign that this authoritarian and anti-science regime is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation.”

According to Cleetus, the withdrawal would “further isolate America and diminish our standing in the world, following a series of deplorable acts that have already undermined our nation’s credibility,” jeopardizing relationships with historic allies and making the world more dangerous.

Since taking office about a year ago, Trump has worked to cut funding to the United Nations and end cooperation with the Human Rights Council and cultural organization UNESCO, according to Reuters. The administration previously announced plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization.

Contributed by: Reuters

Dinah Boyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, covers climate change, weather, the environment and other news. Contact dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or dinahvp.77 on X or Signal.

Two people killed, several injured in Salt Lake City church shooting

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Two people killed, several injured in Salt Lake City church shooting

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At least two people were killed and six others were injured in a shooting outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, authorities said.

According to KTVX, at approximately 7:36 p.m. local time on January 7, officers were dispatched to a report of a shooting outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting hall, Lt. Glen Mills of the Salt Lake City Police Department said. TV stations reported that an altercation broke out and shots were fired during a funeral service inside the building.

Police said two people were killed and at least six injured, three of them in critical condition. Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd said at a news conference that all the victims were “of the age of majority.”

Redd said dozens of people were attending the funeral when the shooting occurred. Investigators are interviewing witnesses and following leads, he added.

In an earlier statement, police said, “Although the suspect remains unresolved, officers have received solid leads and are working to locate those involved.” Red noted that investigators are still determining whether there is one suspect or multiple suspects.

“We do not believe this was a targeted attack against a religion or anything. We do not believe at this point that this was a random attack,” Redd said, adding that investigators were also looking into whether the incident was gang-related.

Salt Lake Mayor: “This should never happen”

“Our hearts go out to everyone in the Rose Park community following tonight’s tragic shooting,” the Salt Lake City Council said in a statement on social media. During a press conference, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall expressed her condolences to the victims, their families, and the church community.

“This should never have happened,” Mendenhall said. “This should never have happened outside of a place of worship. It should never have happened at a celebration of life that was taking place inside a church.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it was aware of a “serious incident that occurred outside a church meetinghouse” in Salt Lake City. According to the church, the incident occurred during a memorial service in the chapel.

“The church is cooperating with law enforcement and appreciates the efforts of first responders,” the church said in a statement on social media. “We offer our prayers to all those affected by this tragedy and express our deep concern that sacred spaces intended for worship should be subject to violence of any kind.”

Contributor: Charles Ventura, USA TODAY

President Trump proposes $1.5 trillion defense budget for ‘dream army’

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President Trump proposes $1.5 trillion defense budget for ‘dream army’

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump has called for a more than 50% increase in the Pentagon’s budget from the $901 billion Congress approved in 2026 to $1.5 trillion in 2027, saying the fiscal boost will allow the United States to build its “dream military.”

In a Jan. 7 post on Truth Social, President Trump said he would ask Congress to increase the Pentagon’s budget for next year, saying the 2027 spending was determined “after long and difficult negotiations with our senators, congressmen, secretaries, and other political representatives…especially during these extremely difficult and dangerous times.”

“The 2027 military budget should be $1.5 trillion, not $1 trillion,” President Trump wrote. “This will allow us to build the ‘army of our dreams’ to which we have long enjoyed the right, and more importantly, it will keep us safe and secure regardless of our enemies.”

“I would stick with the $1 trillion number, but because of the tariffs and the huge amount of revenue they bring in,” he added. “The $1.5 trillion figure is easily achievable.”

Such increases in the military budget require parliamentary approval. But Republicans, who hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate, have shown little appetite to oppose such spending plans.

“I do not support” military action: Republicans doubt Trump would take military action against Greenland

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan federal budget watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., said President Trump’s budget “should be rejected.”

“President Trump’s proposal to explode the Pentagon’s budget with a 50% increase next year is as useless as it sounds,” Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said in a statement. “Congress is already poised to approve a 13% increase in Pentagon spending this year. Our debt exceeds $38 trillion. There are real needs at home and abroad, none of which will be easily met by stepping on the gas in a debt crisis.”

“The president has said this large increase will be offset by tariff revenue. On top of the fact that the math doesn’t add up, the president also promised to reduce the deficit with revenue, send $2,000 checks to Americans, provide relief to farmers affected by the trade war, and the list goes on,” Ellis continued. “This kind of increase can’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. Congress must repudiate this nonsense.”

Collapsed silos, rush deals. How the US blew its missile budget by billions of dollars

Trump’s proposal comes days after U.S. forces attacked Venezuela and stripped the country of its leader in an overnight raid. The Trump administration also said the president was discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including the possible use of U.S. troops.

Contributed by: Reuters

These Team USA snowboarders made it to the halfpipe finals at the Aspen Grand Prix

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These Team USA snowboarders made it to the halfpipe finals at the Aspen Grand Prix

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  • Two returning American snowboarders, Madi Shafric and Jake Pates, have qualified for the halfpipe final at the United States Grand Prix in Aspen.
  • Shafrik, a former Olympic coach, is the only American woman to win a halfpipe competition after returning from a nearly 10-year hiatus.
  • Pates, who retired from competition after the 2018 Olympics, scored 88.25 points in his heat, the top qualifying score.

ASPEN, Colo. – On the first day of qualifying for the 2026 U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen, Colo., the top male and female snowboarders in the U.S. halfpipe event shared an accomplishment that was bigger than their jumps.

I’ll be back.

First, in the women’s trials, Madi Shafric was the only American to qualify for the finals on Jan. 9 at Buttermilk Mountain.

Shafrik, 31, coached the halfpipe team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. A star athlete in her teens, she stayed away from the competitive side of the sport for nearly a decade, feeling that early burnout was inevitable.

She is currently on the brink of being included in the squad for the 2026 Milan Olympics.

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“It was a mixture of everything,” Shafrik told USA TODAY Sports. “I felt the most elated and the most grateful I have ever felt. And I faced challenges that I didn’t expect, but I’m also really grateful for them.”

The past 18 months or so have shown her what she’s capable of and taught her what true confidence is. She said she would think more deeply about everything once this chapter was over. But now everything requires her complete presence.

After dislocating his shoulder during the second run of the Copper Grand Prix in December, Shafrik had not ridden the halfpipe until Monday. By the end of the action three days later, she was a little tired.

“I felt OK. I had my ups and downs during practice,” she said.

You didn’t see that when he pitched 75.25 points in his second run. Three Japanese riders occupied the first three qualifying spots.

During his first few practice runs, Shafrik listens to music with wired headphones in his ears. If she has to wait, she’ll probably turn it back on. But when she’s in the bowl, the music goes off.

Depending on how his body feels on Friday, Shafrik could add some difficulty or tricks to his run in his bid for a podium.

A day of rest on deck.

“I’ll probably watch Game of Thrones,” she said.

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Jake Pates sticks to his guns

After Jake Pates’ second run, a group of Japanese male snowboarders and their coaches at the bottom of the hill got so excited in celebration that they mauled him.

The Japanese riders, the Hirano brothers, are his best friends and he has spent a lot of time in their country. However, they don’t show that love to everyone.

Pates competed in the 2018 PyeongChang Games, but spent most of the next few years away from competition.

“It was tough, I’m not going to lie,” he said of his firing.

There were multiple reasons for his resignation. One of the reasons it took so long was that I didn’t think it would be possible to come back.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some people on my travels and vacations,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “It opened my eyes to the fact that it was a possibility.”

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Jamie Anderson to return to Olympics

Jamie Anderson told USAT’s Chris Bumbaka that he wanted to prove to his daughters that they could still be Olympic snowboarders at age 35.

take sports seriously

His score after the first run was 83.25, which was certainly good enough for the finals, but he left it all behind on his second run. At that time, he surprised everyone by scoring 88.25 points.

“This is unbelievable, to be honest, it makes me cry when I think about it,” Pates said. “Because I was at rock bottom. I was so depressed. I lost my sponsors. I had no income. I didn’t have a job. But I had my family. And I had good friends around me.”

He regained his heart and mind and came back fighting.

“It was very nostalgic,” he said. “I’m so grateful to be here.”

He wouldn’t change anything.

“Our darkest moments shape us,” he said.

Who else made it to the Aspen Grand Prix final?

Chase Georgie (81.00 points) and Ryan Wachendorfer (76.75 points) also advanced from Pates’ heat. In Friday’s men’s halfpipe final, 17-year-old Alessandro Barbieri scored an 85.50 on his first run, taking second place in the first heat and leading the Americans to four riders.

Between competing in the United States and the pressure of Olympic qualifying, Barbieri said, “Everyone wants to get a decent performance to get to the finals and keep their hopes alive.”

Barbieri looked at the score of the first run and was satisfied with his position after the first run. On the second run, my board got caught in the slush and I fell.

“Landing that first run gives you a lot of confidence,” he said. “I’m less stressed. I feel better and ready to make big strides and get out there. Obviously, overconfidence can hurt you.”

That didn’t happen, he said.

“It’s nerve-wracking sometimes,” Barbieri said.

On the slopestyle course, Avery Krume (71.48 points) was the only female freeskier to advance to the eight-person final, finishing in fourth place. The men’s team did well with Mack Forehand (90.50), Alex Hall (89.00) and Connor Ralph (87.50) finishing heat 1 2-4.

Colby Stephenson almost missed out on advancing to the finals, but managed to finish eighth in heat two with a score of 64.25, followed by fellow American Henry Townsend in seventh place with a score of 67.50.

What to expect on the second day of qualifying

Snowboarders head to the slopestyle course on the second day. For Team USA, that means appearances by Jamie Anderson and Red Gerrard, a 41-year-old mother of two seeking her fourth Olympic appearance.

The freeskiers will move on to the halfpipe, with American men Alex Ferreira, Hunter Hess, Nick Goepper and David Wise all taking part. Wise, 35, needs a strong showing in Aspen to get back on track for a fourth Olympic berth. The only American female freeskier to finish on the podium this season, Svea Irving is one of 10 American skiers who make up Aspen’s 22-person women’s field.

When is tonight’s Powerball drawing? Check your numbers here.

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When is tonight’s Powerball drawing? Check your numbers here.

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The Powerball jackpot for the Wednesday, January 7th drawing was $105 million, with a cash value of $47.4 million after no one won the grand prize on Monday, January 5th.

It’s been two weeks since one lucky person in Arkansas won the $1.8 billion Christmas Eve jackpot, the second-largest jackpot in Powerball history. Tickets were sold in Cabot, about 30 miles from Little Rock.

As of today, the prize has not yet been claimed. According to Arkansas Lottery rules, winners have 180 days from the drawing date to claim their prize.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Wednesday’s drawing.

more: The $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot winner can remain anonymous. For now.

What are the winning Powerball numbers for January 7th?

USA TODAY will publish the winning numbers at 10:59 p.m. ET after the lottery drawing.

Do I have to be a US citizen or resident to play Powerball?

The short answer is no. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen or resident to play Powerball. Anyone visiting any of the 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands may purchase lottery tickets from authorized and licensed retailers, regardless of nationality, as long as they meet the legal age requirements (usually 18 years old) at the time of purchase.

more: “Be Quiet:” Here’s what you need to know and do if you win the Mega Millions jackpot.

Top 10 Powerball Jackpots

  • $2.04 billion in California on November 7, 2022
  • December 24, 2025, $1.817 billion in Arkansas.
  • $1.787 billion in Missouri and Texas on September 6, 2025
  • $1.765 billion in California on October 11, 2023
  • January 13, 2016, $1.586 billion in California, Florida, and Tennessee
  • April 6, 2024, $1.326 billion in Oregon.
  • $1.08 billion in California on July 19, 2023
  • $842.4 million in Michigan on January 1, 2024
  • March 27, 2019, $768.4 million in Wisconsin
  • August 23, 2017, $758.7 million in Massachusetts

How to play Powerball

Powerball tickets cost $2 per play and are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This can be done at a variety of locations, including local convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. In some states, you can purchase Powerball tickets online depending on your local jurisdiction.

Once you have your ticket, you have to choose six numbers. Five of them are white balls numbered from 1 to 69. The red Powerball range is 1-26. You can also add a “Power Play” for $1, which increases your winnings on all non-jackpot prizes. “Power Play” multipliers allow you to increase your winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x.

A “Quick Pick” option is also available if you want the computer to select the numbers for you. To win the jackpot, players must match all five white balls with the red Powerball in any order.

Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights. The winnings continue to increase even if no one wins the jackpot.

The lottery winning numbers sponsors are: Jackpocket, USA TODAY Network’s official digital lottery delivery company.

Can I get Powerball tickets online?

You can also order tickets online Jackpocket, USA TODAY Network’s official digital lottery delivery companythese states and territories of the United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington DC, and West Virginia.

The Jackpocket app allows you to choose your lottery games and numbers, place your order, check your tickets, and claim your winnings, all using your phone or home computer.

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery carrier of USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue from viewer referrals to the Jackpocket Service. Must be 18 years or older, 21 years or older in Arizona, 19 years or older in Nebraska. Not affiliated with any state lottery. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 1-800-327-5050 (MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (ALL OTHERS). visit jackpocket.com/tos Over the entire period.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.

100 people killed in US attack, Venezuelan officials say

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100 people killed in US attack, Venezuelan officials say

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Jan 7 (Reuters) – Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said late on Wednesday that 100 people had been killed in the U.S. attack that ousted President Nicolás Maduro from power on Saturday.

The city of Caracas had not previously disclosed the death toll, but the military posted a list of the names of 23 people killed. Venezuelan officials said most of Maduro’s security forces were killed “in cold blood,” and Cuba announced that 32 military and intelligence personnel stationed in Venezuela had been killed.

Mr. Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, who was being held with Mr. Maduro, sustained a head injury during the U.S. raid, and Mr. Maduro sustained a leg injury, Mr. Cabello said.

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, who Cabello praised as “courageous” on his weekly show on state television, on Tuesday declared a week of remembrance for military personnel killed in the attack.

Gen Z is selfish. Will misuse of therapy be the cause of liability?

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Gen Z is selfish. Will misuse of therapy be the cause of liability?

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Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager.

This is a phrase often used to describe the phenomenon of community decline.

But according to a number of social media posts, the recent situation is particularly pronounced among Gen Z. Arguably the most therapy and mental health-savvy generation in history, Gen Z has made work-life balance and self-care a top priority, sometimes at the expense of friendships.

At the same time, daily life has moved online. People are increasingly able to work and attend school remotely. As a result, young people are losing the “village people” that previous generations relied on.

Gen Z is good at boundaries. Have they gone too far?

Generation Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, has made great strides in setting boundaries and being aware of mental health.

Need proof? Jamil Zaki, professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Institute for Social Neuroscience, says look no further than often-repeated viral advice like “You don’t owe anyone anything” and “Be safe.” The problem is that these phrases are spread by people who aren’t mental health experts and are used in all kinds of situations, explains Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Institute for Social Neuroscience.

In that case, “keeping your peace” can become selfish or make you a bad friend.

“I think it’s really harmful to use therapy to justify essentially being socially inactive, being socially withdrawn, or having the right to be socially withdrawn,” Zaki says.

As a 24-year-old Gen Zer, I too have seen this among my co-workers. When my roommate and I planned a potluck-style party on a recent night, several attendees either left at the last minute or didn’t respond to our invitation at all.

That’s not unusual. A friend gets hurt on another’s birthday and conjures up excuses that border on therapy. In some cases, young people avoid conflicts and unpleasant situations in the name of putting themselves first, Zaki added.

I wondered what previous generations would have called this. Selfishness? Lazy? Zaki says previous generations wouldn’t have canceled it in the first place.

One way sociologists used to assess people’s social connections was to ask how many people they could count on to pick them up from the airport at 1 a.m., he says. Today, we have Uber for that. When Joey moves out of his apartment with Chandler in Friends, everyone helps him pack, but in 2026 Joey could have used TaskRabbit. And instead of asking your neighbors for help, there are delivery services like Postmates and Instacart.

While we gained convenience, we lost community.

more: Americans are lonely and it’s killing them. How can the United States fight this new infectious disease?

How we lost our “village”

Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy talks a lot about loneliness. Even before the pandemic, about half of adults reported experiencing loneliness, but in spring 2023, Murthy declared America’s loneliness epidemic a public health crisis.

In an Oct. 25 speech during the New Yorker Festival, he said there has been a “significant and steady decline” in participation in faith groups, recreational leagues and service organizations over the past half century. They also point out that fewer people are attending school, getting jobs and raising families in the towns where they grew up.

“Every time we make a move like this, we leave a community behind. We have to build a new community,” Murthy said during the festival.

There is also a third factor. Rapid reliance on technology has reduced the need for face-to-face interactions.

“Many of the defaults that made social connections part of our life infrastructure are gone. This is difficult because it requires more individual effort to make it happen,” Zaki says.

The effort can sometimes be burdensome or inconvenient. However, in reality, friendship sometimes requires inconvenience.

“On the other side of that anxiety is a connection that is essential for health and well-being,” says Zaki. “I think if you focus on being comfortable, you’re missing out on important opportunities.”

Additionally, research shows that connections and friendships are good for our health and longevity.

“Doing things for others reduces stress, increases ownership and autonomy, and increases feelings of well-being. So when you focus on highly individualistic, mostly one-shot happiness, you’re actually depriving yourself of one of the great sources of happiness,” says Zaki.

more: What exactly happens at “Adult Overnight Camp”? I went to find out.

How can young people build community?

The reality is that most people would like to make more friends.

When I moved to New York a year ago, I challenged myself to meet new people. Understandably, it felt uncomfortable. Part of the struggle with loneliness is the fear of looking out of place. Attending events alone, whether it was a media happy hour or a collage production event, pushed me out of my comfort zone. In the process, I realized there was a whole anti-loneliness movement.

In September, I traveled to the Poconos and spent a weekend at Camp Social, a women-only overnight camp for solo campers looking to make new friends. A range of options like Bumble BFF, Frider, and Yubo advertise themselves as Tinder-like apps for meeting friends, while others like Pie and Partiful help users find events in their area, many of which encourage you to go alone.

The clear demand for these groups shows that the elusive village exists if we are willing to put in the effort.

Zaki likened building community to making a resolution to go to the gym more – being intentional about going to the gym and taking responsibility for your health.

“Statistically speaking, people want to connect with you more than you realize,” Zaki says. “I think we have a lot of life together.”

Rachel Hale’s role covering youth mental health for USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.

Contact X at rhale@usatoday.com and @rachelleighhale.

President Trump praised Maduro’s capture. United Nations experts say this is illegal. Here’s why:

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President Trump praised Maduro’s capture. United Nations experts say this is illegal. Here’s why:

The legality of President Maduro’s January 3 detention remains the subject of intense debate between the Trump administration and Congressional Democrats, as well as other critics.

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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump praised the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and bring him to the United States to face criminal trial for drug trafficking as “brilliant” and “brilliant,” but many legal experts say it violates domestic and international law.

The legality of the January 3 detention of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, remains the subject of intense debate between the Trump administration, Congressional Democrats and other critics. It is also a point of conflict between Washington and some foreign governments and the international community.

“These actions constitute a grave, clear and deliberate violation of the most fundamental principles of international law, set a dangerous precedent and risk destabilizing the entire region and the world,” the UN panel of experts said in a statement on January 7.

The panel of 16 “Special Rapporteurs” are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Although their views do not “necessarily” represent the views of the United Nations, they have been officially published by the United Nations Human Rights Office.

The opinion is unlikely to affect whether Mr. Maduro and Mr. Flores go on trial in the Southern District of New York on drug trafficking and other charges. That’s because a decades-old Supreme Court ruling essentially says that once a person is brought to the United States on a legitimate arrest warrant, how they came to the United States doesn’t matter as to whether or not they will be prosecuted.

more: Maduro ran toward the door as U.S. troops swooped in. President Trump’s attacks shock the world.

What does international law say?

The Committee of Human Rights Experts said the unprovoked use of force in Venezuela’s sovereign territory was a clear violation of Article 2, Section 4 of the United Nations Charter, which “unequivocally prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.”

“This may also constitute an international crime of aggression attributable to the individual political and military leaders involved,” the UN panel said.

U.N. experts also said that under international law, sitting heads of state like Mr. Maduro are immune from the criminal jurisdiction of foreign courts while in office. (Mr. Maduro’s lawyers have indicated that he intends to make this claim.)

Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a sovereign State unless authorized by the United Nations or in a legitimate claim of self-defense.

In a statement published online on January 4, China condemned the detention of Maduro and Flores as a “clear violation of international law.”

“China calls on the United States to immediately release them, stop the overthrow of the Venezuelan government, and resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiations,” the statement said.

US allies in Europe and Israel praised the move, although other foreign adversaries and some Latin American countries issued similar criticisms.

What does U.S. domestic law say?

The Trump administration maintains that its actions were legally justified and part of a pressure campaign to stop Venezuela from sending cocaine to the United States.

U.S. authorities have long pursued Maduro on charges of drug trafficking and “narcoterrorism,” with the Justice Department alleging that he enabled the shipment of “thousands of tons” of the illegal drug cocaine into the United States.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro’s detention was an effort by law enforcement to bring him to the United States and “make him face justice.”

“All involved acted professionally, decisively, and in strict accordance with U.S. law and established procedures,” Bondi said in a statement.

Democrats and some legal experts say Trump needed prior approval from Congress, given the involvement of the U.S. military and the bombings that killed about 75 people in Venezuela.

Maduro’s arrest by Army Rangers, even though he was accompanied by the federal law enforcement officers who actually arrested him, violated U.S. law requiring Congressional approval for such foreign military intervention, former Pentagon general counsel Ryan Goodman told USA TODAY.

“The Constitution gives Congress the power to decide whether to use an act of war to execute an arrest warrant on foreign soil,” said Goodman, who served under President Barack Obama and is now a law professor at New York University.

The operation also violates U.S. law because it is a “serious violation of the United Nations Charter,” Goodman said.

That’s because in 1973, “the Senate voted almost unanimously in favor of the United Nations Charter, which became national law binding on the president,” he said.

The Trump administration maintains that using the military to protect law enforcement officers conducting operations abroad is not an act of war that requires Congressional approval.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on January 3, “Essentially, this was the arrest of two fugitives who had been indicted by the United States Attorney’s Office, and the Department of the Army assisted the Department of Justice in that work.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) initially said on social media: “In the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force, I look forward to learning what, if any, constitutionally justifies this action.”

However, after speaking with Rubio, Trump said the military was “deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant” and that “this action is likely within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. service members from actual or threatened attack.”

Some constitutional experts say that decades of presidents of both parties launching military invasions without Congress have effectively legalized such actions.

“Indeed, it seems arbitrary, or worse, arbitrary, to say that the United States can violate a foreign country’s sovereignty, arrest a foreign dictator on foreign soil, and then call in its own military to bomb the country,” Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor who served as assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, wrote on the website Executive Function. “But this is where the logic of executive branch precedent leads.”

President Maduro has long denied the allegations and claimed he was politically victimized. He and his wife pleaded not guilty at arraignment on January 5 in federal court in Manhattan.

Noriega’s precedent

The Trump administration also points to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama to capture General Manuel Noriega, who was indicted on drug charges, as a precedent.

The operation relied in part on a Justice Department opinion released several months earlier by then-Assistant Attorney General William Barr, which concluded that U.S. federal law allows for this type of extraterritorial arrest and that the president’s constitutional authority is not constrained by international law because it supersedes U.S. law.

Mr. Goodman flatly rejected that argument, saying that Mr. Barr’s Office of the General Counsel’s memo was “one of the least reliable analyzes” that was “based on easily rebuttable flaws in the functioning of treaties in domestic law.”

“No wonder Bill Barr tried to keep the memo secret from Congress and the public,” Goodman said. “The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a bipartisan manner, flatly rejected the Barr theory years ago. It is surprising that the Justice Department would now try to revive the Barr theory.”

At a Jan. 7 press conference, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt responded to questions about the legality of Maduro’s attack, saying that Democrats, including then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, have long called for justice for the Venezuelan leader.

“So the hypocrisy here is really astonishing. Thank you for the opportunity to point that out,” Levitt told reporters.

Could legal issues complicate Maduro’s trial?

Mary Mason, a former senior Justice Department attorney, told USA TODAY that U.S. courts have repeatedly held that they retain jurisdiction over defendants, regardless of how they were brought to court, even if their capture violated international law.

The Supreme Court specifically affirmed this principle in a landmark 1992 case involving the kidnapping of a Mexican doctor by U.S. federal agents to stand trial in Texas for the torture and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

The court ultimately ruled that the United States could try Humberto Álvarez Machain because the current U.S.-Mexico extradition treaty does not explicitly prohibit abductions, said Mason, who handled the case for the Justice Department.

But Mason said the judicial decision should not be mistaken for legality.

“Just because a court refused to intervene doesn’t mean the action was legal,” Mason said, adding that he believed Maduro’s detention was clearly illegal under U.S. and international law. “That means that once the president decides to act, there are few effective checks on the system.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene joins ‘The View’ after leaving Congress

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Marjorie Taylor Greene joins ‘The View’ after leaving Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene came to Congress with bright MAGA dreams as one of President Donald Trump’s biggest allies. Now she has a new perspective.

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Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared on America’s No. 1 talk show, “The View,” on January 7, two months after her bitter feud with her former ally, President Donald Trump, to seek sympathy and reconciliation.

The Georgia congresswoman returned to the Hot Topics table Wednesday for her first exclusive interview since her shocking January 5 resignation from the House.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the president calling me a traitor for standing with women who were raped as teenagers,” Greene said, referring to women who say they were exploited in connection with Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. “One of MAGA’s big campaign promises was to release the Epstein files.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene resigns Parliament for living a fulfilling life

Green added that he quit Congress after he began to wonder if he could become “the second Charlie Kirk.” Charlie Kirk was a conservative activist who was assassinated by a lone gunman during an event on a Utah campus in September, authorities said.

Asked by the committee’s legal hawk Sunny Hostin if she was distancing herself from Trump to protect her own political future, Greene said, “No, I do not intend to pursue a future in politics.”

“Sick and tired.” MTG calls Venezuela MAGA betrayal attack

“I’ve said it over and over until I’m exhausted: I’m not running for the Senate, I’m not running for governor, I’m not running for president,” Greene told Hostin, declining to say whether she would leave the Republican Party.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s last days have passed

On a casual Friday night in November, Greene announced her resignation from Congress. “I’m back with my loved ones, living life to the fullest as I always have, and looking forward to a new path ahead,” she said on Nov. 21.

“As a member of Congress, I have always represented ordinary American men and women, which is why I was always despised in Washington, D.C., and why I never fit in,” Greene said.

What you need to know about Marjorie Taylor’s Reason Mr. Green resigns

A week earlier, on November 14, President Trump criticized Greene in a post on Truth Social. “She has gone far to the left, even appearing on ‘The View,'” the president wrote, referring to Greene’s previous appearance on the show, which features a panel of daytime media’s strongest critics.

The following month, on December 28th, in an Instagram video post, a strikingly serene Green, wearing a bright blue bikini and carrying a paddleboard, walked across the rippling sand into the waves of Costa Rica. Ms. Greene, who just got engaged to 56-year-old far-right White House correspondent Brian Glenn, was all smiles. “I’m 51 but I feel like I’m 24 again,” she captioned the post.

“The water was a little choppy today, but it wasn’t bad at all,” Green told the camera in the video. “It’s really beautiful.” Despite an eventful year, Ms. Green was planning to return to “The View” panels in the new year.

“Those were the same types of women who had always been my friends,” she said in a New York Times profile published Dec. 29. I morning. So I couldn’t wait to talk to these women. I was tired of toxic politics. ”

On January 5th, Mr. Green’s last day as a public servant came and went. There was little hype about Greene’s resignation from Congress after the Trump administration detained Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.

‘Absolutely not’: MTG rejects Trump reunion

The day she first walked out of the House of Commons was the fifth anniversary of the day that made her famous. During the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Greene was denying the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which former President Joe Biden defeated Trump.

Her former opponent, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, was the featured guest on “The View” on the anniversary of the Capitol riot.

“I just hope she changes,” Crockett told the hosts of “The View.” “I don’t fully believe it, but honestly, I hope people will give her a break because she’s doing something that most boys would be scared of.”

Nearly two years after Mr. Crockett called Mr. Greene a “bleach-blonde flimsy” for insulting her false eyelashes, Mr. Crockett continued to praise his former enemy, saying he had the courage to stand up to Mr. Trump.

The next day, during a taping for her Jan. 7 appearance on the show, Greene reunited with a group of wealthy, college-educated women living in the suburbs. Greene told “The View” that she doesn’t want to be involved in politics anymore because “politics has become so extreme and divisive.”

She also accused House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican Congressional leaders of having a “women’s problem.”

“I would argue that not only does[Trump]not have a good reputation with women, but the Republican Party has a women’s problem,” Greene told co-hosts Hostin, comedian Joy Behar, host Whoopi Goldberg, former Trump press secretary Alyssa Farrar Griffin, and Midwest-born moderate Sarah Haines.

“Those of us Republican women who have served in the House of Representatives have been vocal about that,” Greene said during a panel discussion. “There are many others.”

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, members of Mr. Johnson’s leadership team who recently announced they were leaving Congress, have criticized their male Republican colleagues in recent months.

When her co-host asked about her future, Green replied, “I have no plans. This is one of the happiest things I’ve been through in a long time,” adding that she was looking forward to seeing her mother, aunt and friends.

“If he asked you to come back, would you come back?” Behar asked, referring to Trump.

“Who? My ex-husband?” Green joked about her father-of-three Perry Green, whom she split from in 2022. “No, I’m just kidding.”

“Absolutely not, the way he treated me,” Greene said of Trump. “no.”

Green, whoever it is, feels like he has found himself again.

Student loan borrowers could have their paychecks garnished starting this week.

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Student loan borrowers could have their paychecks garnished starting this week.

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The federal government has officially resumed garnishing wages and withholding benefits for student loan borrowers after years of legal impasse.

The Trump administration has taken several steps to limit repayment options and force collections in response to the long COVID-19-era suspension. The federal Department of Education announced a proposed legal agreement that would eliminate the Savings for Worthy Education (SAVE) plan in December 2025, dealing a decisive blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive or reduce the $200 billion in repayment burdens for 5 million federal debtors.

According to reports, more than 7 million SAVE borrowers have been placed under administrative moratorium with no payments required since June 2024. Interest on their debts will resume in August 2025, and the government has announced plans to resume wage garnishments for borrowers who are in arrears from January 7th.

Here’s what you need to know about people at risk of having money taken from their paychecks.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.

What happens if I fall behind on my student loan payments?

Missing a payment or two on your federal student loans doesn’t automatically put you in a bad position. According to the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Administration (FSA), your loan becomes delinquent the day after you miss a payment, which typically results in late fees and potential damage to your credit score.

If you go too long without making payments, you can default on your loan, at which point the government begins involuntary collections, automatically removing money from your paycheck, tax refund, or other federal benefits.

What is wage garnishment?

Wage garnishment is a legal process in which money is seized from an employee’s paycheck to pay off a debt. This money is collected by the employer and sent to the relevant creditors, usually after a court order or other legal notice.

Common reasons for payroll garnishment include child support, student loan debt, credit card debt, bankruptcy, and unpaid taxes, says payroll processing company ADP. Employers can be subject to large fines and legal penalties if they fail to garnish an employee’s wages.

The amount you can withhold from your paycheck depends on the type of debt and state and federal law. The garnishment stops when the debt is paid, the garnishment order is revoked, or the period specified in the order ends.

What is the Treasury Offset Program? What can it collect from you?

The Financial Offset Program is a central government program to collect debts owed to federal and state agencies, such as child support and defaulted loans.

The term “financial offset” used by the FSA office refers to the government’s ability to withhold tax refunds and other federal benefits, such as Social Security checks, as a form of repayment.

Who is at risk of involuntary collection on student loans?

Only those who are delinquent on their student loans are at risk for paycheck garnishment and other withholdings.

Federal student loans must be missed for 270 days to be considered delinquent. The FSA office said they then received a letter from the Department of Education’s Default Resolution Group (DRG) stating the amount they owed and steps they could take to resolve the default, including applying for relief, reducing monthly payments, or requesting a hearing.

If you don’t pay or take steps to resolve the problem for more than 360 days, the government can begin repaying your debt through wage garnishment or other means without a court order. If you plan to use a Treasury offset to collect your funds, you will receive notice by mail from the U.S. Treasury at least 65 days before withholding begins.

For federal student loans, the government can garnish up to 15% of your paycheck, 100% of your tax refund, and up to 25% of your Social Security benefits.

Eaton fire victims reveal difficult recovery one year later

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Eaton fire victims reveal difficult recovery one year later

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“Survivors are failing to rebuild.”

That’s what Joy Chen said at a press conference in Altadena on Wednesday, Jan. 7, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Eaton fire, where fire victims and elected officials offered insight into the dire rebuilding process, including delays in insurance payments, fire victims at risk of homelessness, and the need for federal funding.

“Whether a family can return home or be permanently evacuated comes down to money,” Chen said.

Mr. Chen is the executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network. The organization was born out of a pickleball chat and is now helping fire victims. Southern California Edison, insurance companies and the federal government all owe “tens of billions of dollars” to survivors, Chen said, and was the subject of a press conference on the first anniversary.

Advocates have previously called on Southern California Edison to provide housing relief to Eaton Fire victims, and they echoed that sentiment Wednesday. Ada Hernandez, who lost her home in a fire in late January, said her husband, two young children and their dog could be at risk living in their car.

Edison said in December that “SCE equipment may have been involved in igniting (the Eaton Fire)” and that “idle line guidance remains a likely explanation.”

The Eaton Fire burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed more than 9,400 structures, including homes. The fire killed 19 people, including Zaire Calvin’s sister Evelyn McClendon.

Calvin and his mother have lived in Altadena for years, he all his life and she since the 1960s, he told the USA TODAY Network. His mother said she recently received an eviction notice. That’s what he’s dealing with on the anniversary of the Eaton fire, rather than just processing what happened.

“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe until I get my home back,” Calvin said.

‘We’re not where we should be’: Los Angeles County supervisors request federal aid

Christy Zamani with the Eaton Fire Collaborative Leadership Council said some of the fire victims were moved from 10 to 15 Airbnbs, from hotels to motels and trailers to cars. She recalled a 16-year-old boy who came to her looking for a job to help his mother.

“It’s been a year and we’re not where we should be,” Zamani said.

The Eaton Fire started on January 7, 2025 and was not contained until the end of the month.

“Now think to yourself, ‘How can someone finish their paperwork, think about rebuilding, take care of their kids, continue to work, and not even know where they’re going to sleep tonight?'” Zamani said. “Can you do that? How much can you do?”

Casti Fortich told USA TODAY Network that she has lived in Altadena for 22 years and raised her two daughters there. His home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire.

“What most people don’t realize is that after a fire, the operating hours of the nonprofits, SBA, and disaster centers that we respond to are during our working hours,” Fortich said. “That means phone calls, conference calls, and Zoom calls are happening during work hours.”

Fortich, 62, is grateful that her job gives her time to deal with personal matters during work hours. If he didn’t have that flexibility, the rebuilding process would have been significantly delayed.

In the first month after his home was destroyed by fire, he lived in six different locations and lived on donations for a month, he recalled. He said he’s still waiting for some insurance money that will be key in his bid to rebuild in Altadena.

“As others have said, so many are facing a lack of ability to rebuild,” Los Angeles County Superintendent Kathryn Berger said. “It is our duty to demand fairness and accountability in insurance practices.”

She also asked for help in Washington, D.C.

“The resources that counties and states are already providing are dwarfed by the scale of the need,” Berger said. “If you listen, I look forward to working with my colleagues in Washington, D.C., to bring additional disaster relief to Los Angeles County.”

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. please contact her pbarraza@usatodayco.com.

Some companies will close their stores in 2026. Find out which stores will be closing.

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Some companies will close their stores in 2026. Find out which stores will be closing.

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As the new year arrives and some retailers look to reinvent their finances, they are saying goodbye to some stores, citing poor performance and, in some cases, tariffs.

Retailers like Carter’s come to mind, the children’s clothing store announcing in October that the company would close 150 stores over the next three years.

Carter’s announced on an Oct. 27 conference call that it plans to close “low margin” stores in its third quarter report. According to the company, about 100 stores will close by 2026.

In Carter’s October call, the company said tariffs were one of the main reasons for the closure and that it would monitor tariff levels.

Last year, President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on imports from all countries and additional tariffs on 60 countries he deemed the largest contributors to the U.S. trade deficit, leading to increased costs for U.S. consumers.

Meanwhile, companies like Red Robin, which considered closing 70 underperforming restaurants last spring, were able to remove some restaurants from the list of candidates for closure because of improved performance. On January 7, the company announced that it had “strong financial results” for the third quarter of 2025, making it possible to reduce the number of store closures.

Here is a list of companies that will downsize in 2026 and the reasons for their closure:

Kroger and Walgreens are among the stores to close in 2026

Grocery and convenience stores that will close in 2026 include Kroger, Walgreens, and Big Lots.

In June, Kroger announced plans to close 60 stores across the United States over the next 18 months. The grocer said in its first-quarter 2025 sales report that the store closures would provide a “reasonable economic benefit.”

At the time, the company declined to provide a list of store closures, but media reports indicated closures in Illinois, Kentucky and Texas.

When USA TODAY contacted Kroger on Jan. 7, the company referred the paper to previous comments. The company announced in September that it plans to increase the number of store openings by 30%. Kroger announced in December that it would soon break ground on 14 new stores.

Walgreens Pharmacy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jan. 7, but announced in October 2024 that it plans to close about 1,200 underperforming stores across the U.S. over three years, citing declining profits. The company said the decline in profits was due to low drug reimbursement rates and weak retail sales.

Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2024. Bruce Thorne, president and CEO at the time, said in a press release at the time that the company “wants to move forward with a more focused business development.”

About a month later, in October, Big Lots announced plans to close more than 340 stores. The company did not immediately respond to a Jan. 7 request for comment.

Which department stores will close in 2026?

In February 2024, Macy’s announced plans to close 150 unproductive stores over three years as part of the department store’s “Bold New Chapter” strategy.

The company said in its latest press release in January 2025 that this strategy should help the company return to “sustainable and profitable sales growth.”

The company said it also plans to invest in 350 other stores by fiscal 2026, and confirmed that 66 of the 150 stores will be closed. The closures include stores in states such as California, Georgia, New York and Texas.

By March 2025, stores were already starting to close in downtown Brooklyn and Long Island.

Macy’s told USA TODAY on Jan. 7 that there was no update on the company’s closure plans.

Other department stores closing in 2026 include:

  • JC Penney (February 22, 2026) – According to news station KRON-TV, the Pleasanton, California store is closing. J.C. Penney declined to comment on Jan. 7, but told KRON-TV that the company is “unable to continue with the current lease terms of this store and has not been able to find another suitable location in the market.”
  • Sax Off 5th (opening in January 2026) – Closed 9 stores in Austin. Chicago; East Hanover, New Jersey; Niagara Falls, New York. Pittsburgh North (McKnight Road); Franklin Mall (formerly Philadelphia Mills) in Philadelphia; Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Washington, DC; and West Hartford, CT. Saks Off Fifth previously told USA TODAY that the closings are part of the company’s plan to “optimize” its store presence.
  • Yankee Candle (2026) – Yankee Candle owner Newell Brands confirmed to USA TODAY on January 7 that it plans to close 20 Yankee Candle stores in the United States and Canada in 2026, although the company did not specify a date. The company said the closures were part of a global productivity plan and noted that closures accounted for just 1% of brand sales. Yankee Candle said it was “focusing resources on our most productive channels and store locations to strengthen our performance.”

Are there any sporting goods stores or specialty stores that will close in 2026?

Some specialty stores, including outdoor sporting goods store Orbis, have also announced closures in 2026. Orbis announced in October that it would close 31 stores by early 2026 due to tariffs.

REI also announced in October that the retailer plans to close three stores in 2026. “As markets and customer needs evolve, we must adapt to position the co-op for long-term success,” the company previously said in a statement to USA TODAY.

REI stores scheduled to close in 2026 include:

  • Paramus, NJ – Closed in first three months of 2026.
  • Boston – Closing at the end of 2026.
  • NEW YORK CITY – REI SoHo flagship store will close at the end of 2026.

Shoe retailer Foot Locker, owned by Dick’s Sporting Goods, will close some “unprofitable” stores, Chief Executive Officer Ed Stack said during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference on Nov. 25.

“Our intent is to recover the majority of our inventory costs by the end of the year, allowing us to start 2026 afresh and position Foot Locker at the turning point for the 2026 back-to-school season,” Stack said on a conference call.

When asked on Jan. 7 about the schedule and the locations of stores that would close, Dick’s Sporting Goods referred USA TODAY to its November earnings report.

Video game retailer GameStop also plans to close hundreds of stores this month, including one in Alabama, according to the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network. GameStop did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on January 7th.

Contributors: Gabe Hauari, Jennifer Lindahl, Jonathan Limehouse, Mary Walras-Holdridge, Michael Collins, Michelle Del Rey, USA TODAY

Saleen Martin is a reporter for USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia (757). Email sdmartin@usatoday.com.

Venezuela attack is unlikely to boost President Trump’s mid-term Republican prospects

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Venezuela attack is unlikely to boost President Trump’s mid-term Republican prospects

Opinion polls show there is little support for Nicolas Maduro’s arrest outside of Republican bases, and experts say it is unlikely to matter to voters.

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  • Opinion polls show that Americans’ opinions on military action are largely divided along partisan lines.
  • The move has been praised by hardliners in the Republican Party but criticized by some “America First” conservatives and Democrats.
  • Although public opinion is divided on the strike, a clear majority of Americans are concerned about further U.S. involvement in Venezuela.

President Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela has split the country in two. Republican hawks support the Jan. 3 attack that dragged President Nicolas Maduro to New York to face drug charges, but Democrats question whether constitutional rules or international law were violated.

“We’ve seen a president with the backbone to stand up and do things that past presidents never dreamed of,” Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said in a video posted Jan. 5 celebrating Maduro’s concerns. “We have demonstrated the power and ability of the United States to enter your backyard and drag you out of your home if you threaten us.”

White House officials also told USA TODAY that Maduro’s critics sounded the same alarm when President Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities last June, which they claim paved the way for October’s Israel-Hamas peace deal.

As many Venezuelan-Americans have flocked to the streets to celebrate the overthrow of Maduro’s government, the 2018 and 2024 presidential elections have been described by U.S. officials as a “sham,” as administration officials note.

But Venezuela’s actions come at a politically dangerous time for the president, given that his approval ratings have fallen into the mid-30s ahead of this year’s crucial midterm elections.

Early polling shows similar rifts within President Trump’s base, although reactions are divided primarily along partisan lines. As with last summer’s U.S. attack on Iran, some “America First” conservatives have joined Democrats in publicly speaking out against President Trump’s use of force without Congressional authorization.

Experts and analysts say a show of U.S. military might could give Trump a temporary boost, as has happened with some presidents in the past.

But they warn that the Maduro attack could further expose President Trump’s weak leadership, especially for anti-war voters on both sides of the political spectrum.

Opinion poll shows Americans are divided on the detention of Venezuela’s president

The White House’s decision to attack Venezuela comes after President Trump and his top aides have long vowed during his campaign and in office to avoid international entanglements and instead put “America First.”

In June 2020, President Trump gave a speech at West Point’s graduation ceremony and said, “We are returning to the basic principle that the job of the American military is not to rebuild a foreign country, but to protect, and strongly defend, our country from foreign enemies.”

“We are ending the era of endless wars…It is not the duty of the U.S. military to resolve ancient conflicts in faraway lands many have never heard of,” he added. “We are not the world’s police officers.”

The reversal worries some of the more isolationist figures in the “Make America Great Again” movement, such as former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who feel cheated.

White House press secretary Anna Kelly called the concerns an overreaction.

“Rather than repeating the mistakes of past administrations, the president is reasserting and implementing the Monroe Doctrine to restore U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere, curb immigration, and stop drug trafficking,” Kelly told USA TODAY in a statement.

“The president is never afraid of panic,” he said, using a term Trump coined by combining the words “panic” and “American.” “He succeeded in renewing America’s power to bring the artifacts back to our country.”

Democrats and other international law experts have also condemned the move, with some questioning what will happen next and others noting violations of global rules that could force the United States into foreign occupation.

President Maduro entered a not guilty plea in federal court on January 5, but the first measurements of the American public’s reaction show that Americans are evenly divided on removing foreign leaders, with a majority concerned about what will happen next.

A two-day Reuters/Ipsos poll released during Mr. Maduro’s arraignment showed that about 33% of Americans support a military strike against Venezuela, while exactly the same number disapprove and 34% are unsure. The poll found that 65% of Republicans support the military, compared to 11% of Democrats and 23% of independents.

Other surveys have found similar results, including a Jan. 3 poll by YouGov that showed 36% of U.S. adults support overthrowing Maduro by military force, compared to 39% who oppose it. A Washington Post poll on January 5 also found that 40% supported sending troops to Venezuela to arrest the president, while 42% opposed it.

President Trump’s overall approval rating in the two polls (42% by Reuters/Ipsos, 39% by YouGov) is roughly in line with recent polls before the military invasion.

As Rubio gains attention, the White House leans into “FAFO” bravado

The Trump administration has reportedly publicly touted the operation, which has left at least 56 people dead in Venezuela, with no American casualties.

“This is our hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be compromised,” a Jan. 5 State Department post to X said.

The White House’s Instagram page is also proud, and a Jan. 5 post on the White House’s Instagram page shows the president emerging from a secure limousine, the acronym “FAFO” (short for “f— around and find out”) being a favorite joke among administration officials.

Another post on the social media app features bold footage of President Maduro trying to get himself captured by the United States before playing Notorious Big’s hip-hop song “Hypnotize,” with the caption “If you don’t know, now you know,” also borrowed from the late rapper’s lyrics.

Mr. Trump is leaning into this kind of bravado messaging during the 2024 campaign, and polling shows it may resonate with a significant portion of the Republican Party, especially foreign policy hawks.

When asked whether the United States should follow policies that “dominate affairs in the Western Hemisphere,” about 43% of Republican voters in the YouGov poll supported that statement. The poll also found that after the attack on Venezuela, the number of Republicans who said U.S. military intervention would improve conditions in the countries where it occurred more than doubled compared to a month ago, the survey found.

Republican strategist Liz Mair said it was too early to tell whether capturing Maduro would be of political benefit to the president ahead of the midterm elections, but she said her focus was on the tug of war between MAGA isolationists and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s rising influence within the administration.

Mr. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long advocated a shift in U.S. policy towards Venezuela from diplomatic negotiations to the use of military force.

“This whole thing has the hallmarks of Marco Rubio’s stealth presidency,” said Mair, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Survey finds that people are highly skeptical about what President Trump should do next

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 72% of Americans are concerned about the U.S. getting too involved in Venezuela, including 90% of Democrats and 74% of voters who identify as “other” in the poll. Among Republicans, 54% said they were concerned about further U.S. involvement.

Following Maduro’s detention, the president asserted that the United States was “in charge” of Venezuela and that foreign countries would “hand over” 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil as well.

“This oil will be sold at market price, and the funds will be controlled by me as President of the United States, ensuring that they are used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the United States of America!” Trump said in a Jan. 6 post on Truth Social.

Rubio mostly dodged a question about who exactly is running Venezuela on the Jan. 4 episode of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The country’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who took over, denounced the US operation as a “kidnapping”, but Mr Rubio suggested the South American country’s leadership would become more compliant after Mr Maduro’s ouster.

“We expect to see a lot more compliance and cooperation than we’ve had in the past,” Rubio said in a Jan. 4 interview. “We were unable to reach any deal or arrangement with Mr. Nicolas Maduro.”

Voters care more about the economy than foreign policy

Experts say it’s difficult to say whether Venezuela’s actions will help or further hurt President Trump’s popularity, but historically, what happens abroad doesn’t have much impact on political outcomes at home.

Some polls conducted over the past year have shown that a majority of voters are increasingly concerned about President Trump’s use of executive power, such as sending the National Guard to American cities, but foreign affairs rarely tops the list.

“Foreign policy only affects public opinion about a president in major events like wars, invasions, and the Great Leap Forward,” David Greenberg, a historian of American political and cultural history at Rutgers University, told USA TODAY.

“Despite what some Democrats say, we are not going to war,” he added. “Overall, outside of the Venezuelan community, most people don’t consider this a top priority.”

Experts say that whatever boost or damage Trump receives politically, the issue is likely to fade among voters within weeks as domestic concerns take precedence in the fall’s congressional elections.

In December, Trump traveled to rural Pennsylvania for a rally seeking to reset the narrative on his economic performance. A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll released nearly two weeks after the incident showed that 57% of Americans disapprove of his handling of economic policy, and more respondents think Democrats will do a better job.

But some progressives skeptical of military intervention abroad say Democrats should not abandon their positions on foreign policy and emphasize that President Trump’s actions in countries like Venezuela, Iran and Nigeria are inconsistent with his campaign rhetoric.

While the Jan. 3 attack was an “impressive tactical feat,” the president’s opponents need to remember that the vast majority of Americans oppose any escalation, said Matt Das, executive vice president of the International Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based foreign policy research and advocacy think tank.

“Trump promised to be a peacemaking president,” said Das, a former policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders. “He has now launched military operations in seven countries, at least as far as we know. How is this going to improve my life? That’s the question Americans are asking.”

These automakers sold the most cars in the U.S. in 2025

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These automakers sold the most cars in the U.S. in 2025

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  • Despite economic headwinds, U.S. auto sales rose 2.4% in 2025, the industry’s strongest year since 2019.
  • General Motors sold 2.85 million vehicles in 2025, ranking first among all automakers.
  • Trucks and SUVs dominated the best-seller lists for most major auto brands.

Automakers had a strong sales year despite significant headwinds from higher sticker prices, interest rates and duties on imported cars and parts.

In fact, the auto industry has had such a strong year this year that the White House on Tuesday (Jan. 6) touted the fact that U.S. auto sales rose 2.4%, calling it the industry’s strongest performance since 2019 and proof that tariffs aren’t driving up car prices.

With this in mind, the USA TODAY Cars team examined the latest sales reports from top automakers to find out who did the best and worst in 2025 when it came to dealer deals.

Among the manufacturers that have announced full-year sales for 2025, the top 10 best-selling car brands are as follows:

1.General Motors

Sales in 2025:2,850,000

best selling vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra

what they are sayingIn a press release touting 2025 sales numbers, GM said, “Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra combined for the highest sales in 20 years, making them the U.S. full-size pickup truck leaders for the sixth year in a row.” The company also said it led the full-size SUV market with the 51-inch model.cent In 2025, it became the industry’s second-largest EV unit seller.

Reporting from Detroit: GM sales decline in 4th quarter, rise overall in 2025 thanks to gasoline trucks and SUVs

2. Ford

Sales in 2025: 2,147,811

Best selling vehicle: F series

What they are saying: “As a result of appealing to a broad range of customers through a variety of trim levels and powertrain products, Ford’s market share increased by 0.6 percentage points for the year and 0.9 percentage points for the quarter, reaching 13.2% market share for the year,” Ford said in a statement.

Reporting from Detroit: Ford reports highest quarterly and annual U.S. sales since 2019

3. Toyota

Sales in 2025: 2,147,811

Best selling vehicle: Toyota RAV-4

What they are saying: The Japanese company is “grateful for the strong response from Toyota customers in 2025, which reflects our deep commitment to affordability and choice,” Andrew Gilleland, senior vice president of Toyota Motor Corporation North America’s automotive business group, said in a statement.

4. Tesla

Sales in 2025: 1,636,129

Best selling vehicle: Tesla Model Y

What they are saying: “In the fourth quarter, we produced more than 434,000 vehicles, delivered more than 418,000 vehicles, and deployed 14.2 GWh of energy storage products, a record for deployments,” Tesla said in a statement to investors.

5.Honda

Sales in 2025: 1,430,57

Best selling vehicle: Honda CR-V

What they are saying: Honda said in a press release that 2025 sales will be “the best year since 2021, up 0.5% year-on-year.” The company said the sales increase was achieved “despite the impact of changing market conditions and the microchip shortage, which contributed to inventory declines in the fourth quarter.”

6. Stella

Sales in 2025: 1,260,344

Best selling vehicle: ram light duty pickup

What they are saying: “With sequential quarterly sales growth and market share growth, it is clear that we are taking the appropriate steps to reset our U.S. operations,” U.S. retail sales chief Jeff Comer said in a statement. Komol added that the company “ended 2025 on a strong note and will continue that momentum in 2026 with five new models hitting showrooms.”

Reporting from Detroit: Stellantis sales decline again, but brand shows signs of growth

7. Nissan

Sales in 2025: 926,153

Best selling vehicle: nissan rogue

What they are saying: Nissan said in a press release that its Kicks and Pathfinder SUVs “delivered outstanding performance for the calendar year, with sales increasing 33.9% and 25.6%, respectively, and each achieving their highest annual sales since their launch.” Mike Sutter, Nissan America’s senior vice president of U.S. marketing and sales, added, “Trucks and SUVs were a clear growth driver for Nissan in the fourth quarter and throughout 2025.”

Reporting from Tennessee: Nissan discontinues Versa as American buyers opt for higher-priced models

8. Hyundai

Sales in 2025: 901,686

Best selling vehicle: hyundai tucson

What they are saying: “Hyundai ended 2025 on a high note, achieving our fifth consecutive year of retail sales records in what we called our ‘2025 5-to-5’ mission, with record December total sales and retail sales,” Randy Parker, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, said in a statement.

9. Become

Sales in 2025: 852,155

Best selling vehicle: kia sportage

What they are saying: “Retail sales through Kia dealerships increased for the eighth year in a row, up 5% year over year and a record high for the sixth consecutive year. This is the brand’s highest ever U.S. market share and confirms continued consumer demand for Kia’s diverse model lineup,” Kia Motors said in a press release.

10. Volkswagen

Sales in 2025: 329,813

Best selling vehicle: volkswagen tiguan

What they are saying: Volkswagen announced in a press release that sales for the fourth quarter of 2025 were down 19.8% year over year compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. Volkswagen announced that it ended this year with a 13% decline compared to 2024.

Thoughts on Kai Trump’s age, parents, and politics from Logan Paul’s show

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Thoughts on Kai Trump’s age, parents, and politics from Logan Paul’s show

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  • Kai Trump, the president’s eldest granddaughter, said she has no interest in a career in politics.
  • She appeared on Logan Paul’s podcast and talked about her golf aspirations and her family’s political life.
  • Trump, an 18-year-old accomplished golfer, is committed to playing at the University of Miami.

Kai Trump says he has no interest in joining his grandfather’s political dynasty.

Trump, the president’s eldest granddaughter, appeared on the podcast “Impaulsive” with Logan Paul in a wide-ranging interview published on January 6, where she discussed her golf aspirations, her elusive uncle Barron Trump and what she thinks about her role in her father’s political campaign.

“To be honest, I want nothing to do with politics at all. I will never run for office and I don’t want anything to do with politics,” she said. “I think politics is a very dangerous thing. If both sides met in the middle, I think everyone would be much more (happy).”

She further stated that she believes social media contributes to people’s extreme political views. She referred to herself as “in the middle” when talking about former Vice President Kamala Harris and her grandfather’s 2024 run for the White House, but said she would of course support her family.

“He’s literally just a cool grandpa,” she said.

more: Kai Trump makes LPGA debut

Who is Kai Trump?

Kai Trump, 18, is the eldest granddaughter of President Donald Trump and the daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and ex-wife Vanessa Trump.

Kai Trump, making his political debut at the Republican National Convention ahead of the 2024 election, shared a human side to his grandfather, who called to check on his golf game. She said on the podcast that it was her idea to speak there, but ultimately she was more nervous about her LPGA debut than speaking on stage in Milwaukee.

Kai Trump is a senior at The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and plans to play golf at the University of Miami after graduation.

Who are Kai Trump’s parents?

Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump are Kai Trump’s parents.

Donald Trump Jr. is the eldest son of Donald Trump and the late Ivana Trump.

Vanessa Trump is dating golf legend Tiger Woods, and Donald Trump Jr. is engaged to socialite Bettina Anderson.

How old is Kai Trump?

Kai Trump is 18 years old. She will turn 19 years old on May 12, 2026.

Hosts furious at Kai’s 19-year-old uncle Barron Trump

Hosts Paul and Mike Myluck also asked Kai Trump about his uncle, Barron Trump, who is about a year older than him.

Barron Trump, the youngest of President Trump’s children, is the only child of the president and first lady Melania Trump. President Trump had his first child (Donald Trump Jr., Kai Trump’s father) and youngest child (Barron Trump) nearly 30 years apart.

Paul and Majulak asked Kai Trump about the popular conspiracy surrounding Barron Trump.

“Why is he so tall?” asked Paul.

“Well, my grandfather is actually quite tall,” Kai Trump replied.

Paul also asked about the much talked about moment between former President Joe Biden and Barron Trump at the inauguration.

“I have no idea. In fact, I never asked him,” she said. “Knowing Baron, he definitely didn’t say anything. At least I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

She also flatly replied, “No, Barron Trump is not a time traveler.”

Kai Trump loves golf just like his grandfather Donald Trump

In August 2024, she announced her decision to remain in Florida for college and play golf at the University of Miami after graduating from Benjamin School in Palm Beach County, Florida in 2026.

In February 2025, Kai Trump became the highest-paid player in high school girls golf after announcing her first major sponsorship deal with major golf equipment company TaylorMade.

She said on the podcast that in her life, she wants to “become a pro, win some tournaments, and hopefully eventually be number one in the world.”

Contributor: Jennifer Sangalang, USA TODAY Network

Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact KCrowley@usatodayco.com. follow her X (Twitter), blue sky and TikTok.

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