What we're covering
• Trump’s meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader: Nobel laureate María Corina Machado will meet with President Donald Trump today, after he declined to endorse her following the US capture of leader Nicolás Maduro. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, is set to deliver a state of the union address today after Trump said they spoke yesterday.
• Tensions over Greenland: Leaders from Denmark and Greenland said that a “fundamental disagreement” persists with the Trump administration over the future of the territory following their meeting yesterday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
• DOJ probe into Fed chair: Trump told Reuters yesterday that he is not planning on removing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even as the Justice Department conducts a criminal investigation into the central bank chief.
Senators seek Machado’s take on post-Maduro Venezuela this afternoon
Senators are expected to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado this afternoon, after her meeting at the White House.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, who noted he’s stayed in contact with her, says they want to hear her opinion on what has happened in Venezuela since the US captured and ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
“She’s an extraordinary person, totally deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. She risked her life to bring a change in the government in Venezuela,” Durbin told reporters. “Some practical questions we’re going to ask today, as to how she sees her homeland since Maduro has been removed and has a new president.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she will also attend the meeting.
US military seizes another oil tanker in the Caribbean
The US seized another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, according to a social media post from US Southern Command, as the military continues to assert control over the flow of oil into and from Venezuela.
“The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully,” US Southern Command said.
The seizure of the tanker, called Veronica, was conducted by the Joint Task Force Southern Spear in coordination with the US Coast Guard and the Justice Department.
Prior to Thursday’s action, the US had boarded and taken control of five sanctioned oil tankers since early December.
Here's what's on Trump's schedule today
President Donald Trump is set to meet with Venezuela’s opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado today at 12:30 p.m. ET.
At 4 p.m. ET, Trump will host the 2025 Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, in the East Room.
Additionally, at 1 p.m. ET, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will brief the press.
Analysis: Machado gambling her political future on Trump. Here's why
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is in Washington, DC for a high-stakes talks with President Donald Trump on the future of Venezuela following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
The meeting comes after Trump surprised many by allowing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume control, dashing opposition hopes for a new democratic era.
The last 12 months have been a rollercoaster for Machado.
A year ago this week, she was seen in Caracas, struggling to energize crowds against Maduro, the authoritarian leader who was beginning a third term as Venezuela’s president after his electoral authorities announced him the winner in the 2024 presidential election — without releasing detailed results and despite evidence that Machado’s candidate, Edmundo González, had beaten him in a landslide.
It was the last time anyone had seen Machado in public until last month, when she emerged from hiding to receive her prize in Norway following a daring escape from Venezuela evading capture by Maduro’s forces.
Machado has tried to court Trump’s favor, first by awkwardly supporting the White House strategy to target alleged narcotraffickers in the Caribbean, many of them Venezuelans, despite scant public evidence to justify the strikes, and then by controversially dedicating her Nobel award to Trump himself, who has openly campaigned to receive the honor for years.
Read more about the power dynamics between Trump and Machado.
Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader will meet today at the White House
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump today.
Her visit to the White House comes as the president declined to endorse her following the US military strikes in Caracas and capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, whose vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in as acting president.
Shortly after the January 3 military operation, Trump said it would be tough for Machado to lead Venezuela, saying she doesn’t have the support or the respect of the people.
Machado, however, has something Trump has long coveted — a Nobel Prize. She’s suggested she would offer her award to the US president, and he’s said it’d be an “honor” to receive it, although the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said the prize cannot be transferred.
Asked on Friday whether receiving Machado’s prize would make him reconsider his view of her role in Venezuela, Trump didn’t directly answer.
