What we're covering
• Tensions over Greenland: President Donald Trump said he is considering applying new tariffs on countries that oppose his ambition of annexing Greenland. Trump’s push to control Greenland has prompted outrage among European nations, who fear the move could rupture longstanding transatlantic ties.
• New poll: Public opinion on nearly every aspect of Trump’s first year back in the White House is negative, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with a majority of Americans saying the president is focused on the wrong priorities.
• Meanwhile, in Minneapolis: After warning he might invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy US troops to Minnesota, Trump said today there’s no reason to use it “right now,” but said he’d invoke the law if he felt it were necessary.
Trump and Netanyahu spoke for a second time yesterday after the US decided not to attack Iran, source says
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call Thursday evening, according to an Israeli source, after the US president decided not to carry out an attack on Iran.
It was the leaders’ second call on Iran in two days.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Netanyahu also spoke yesterday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had offered to continue “mediation efforts” to deescalate the situation, according to a readout from the Kremlin.
Trump praises Machado while explaining why he didn't back her to succeed Maduro
President Donald Trump on Friday praised Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado while explaining more of his reasoning for not backing her to lead Venezuela after the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
“Well, if you ever remember a place called Iraq where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House for Florida. “So, I remember that.”
Trump previously said that Machado lacked the respect of her people to lead the country.
Trump spoke positively about his meeting with Machado on Thursday, where she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal. “But I’ll tell you, I had a great meeting yesterday by a person who I have a lot of respect for, and she has respect, obviously, for me and our country, and she gave me her Nobel prize,” Trump said.
Asked why he would want someone else’s prize, Trump said, “Well, she offered it to me. I thought it was very nice. She said, you know, ‘You’ve ended eight wars, and nobody deserves this prize more than, in history, than you do.’ And I thought it was a very nice gesture and, by the way, I think she’s a very fine woman, and we’ll be talking again,” he said.
Tensions escalate at protest outside Minneapolis-area federal building
Tensions between law enforcement and protesters in the Minneapolis area are escalating again today during anti-ICE demonstrations outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building.
Apparently spurred by one protester who was dancing in the street just outside the building, federal officers in tactical gear forcefully moved the crowd away from the street back to the sidewalk. At least five agents were on top of the protester who seemed to have triggered the heavy response, and that person was detained.
Some context: The Whipple building, close in proximity to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, has been used as a staging facility by ICE agents, as well as Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection personnel.
The area around the facility has become a focal point for protesters to gather, fueled by outrage over federal agents’ tactics in confronting Minnesotans — including US citizens.
The region has become a flashpoint for broader protests against President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
Trump says no reason to use Insurrection Act "right now"
President Donald Trump said there’s no reason to use the Insurrection Act “right now,” but that he’d invoke the law if he felt it were necessary.
“It’s been used a lot. And if I needed it, I’d use it. I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful,” the president told reporters while leaving the White House for Florida on Friday.
The president has threatened multiple times to use the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy US troops to Minnesota, where anti-ICE protests have grown increasingly heated.
The act was last invoked in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush, when he got a request from then-California Gov. Pete Wilson for help addressing riots in Los Angeles.
Trump says he "convinced himself" to hold off on military action against Iran
President Donald Trump said Friday he “convinced himself” to hold off on military action against Iran, in part because Tehran said it was calling off planned executions of detained protesters.
“Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself,” Trump told reporters at the White House as he was departing for Florida.
He was asked whether US allies in the Middle East had helped deter him from ordering strikes.
CNN reported on Thursday that an intensive lobbying campaign from Saudi Arabia and Qatar — along with a phone call to Trump from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — preceded his decision to pump the brakes on taking action.
Trump was also focused on the planned executions, and he said the decision to halt them impacted his thinking.
“They were going to hang over 800 people yesterday, and I greatly respect the fact that they canceled that,” he told CNN’s Alayna Treene.
Trump to pardon ex-Puerto Rico governor who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violation
President Donald Trump intends to pardon former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez, who pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation last summer, according to a White House official.
Vázquez was facing time behind bars after the Justice Department brought bribery charges connected to the financing of her 2020 campaign.
From December 2019 through June 2020, the former governor allegedly conspired in a scheme to finance her gubernatorial campaign, according to the DOJ.
A former FBI agent and the owner of the international bank that operated in San Juan also participated in the alleged scheme, federal officials said.
The indictment alleged the owner of the international bank and his consultant – the former FBI agent – agreed to provide funding for Vázquez’s campaign in exchange for her replacing the island’s top bank regulator with one of their choosing. At the time, the bank was the “subject of an examination” by the regulatory agency, federal prosecutors say.
The White House claimed the charges were brought due to political motivations. The White House official cited the timing of the investigation into Vázquez — which they said began 10 days after she endorsed Trump in 2020 — as proof. Trump was still president at that time, although Vázquez was not arrested until 2022, during President Joe Biden’s administration.
The official said in her materials advocating for a pardon, Vázquez claims there was no quid pro quo or bribery at play in her dealings with the banker.
DHS spokesperson says ICE is "working" on equipping its officers with body cameras
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said today that the agency is “working” to equip immigration officers with body-worn cameras.
Her comments on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown” came in response to a video showing a federal officer asking a US citizen for her ID. McLaughlin accused the media of showing short snippets of video devoid of any context.
Throughout President Donald Trump’s monthslong surge of federal immigration officers, cell phone videos captured by civilians have shown officers using aggressive tactics to arrest immigrants and crack down on protesters. DHS has said these videos — including the ones showing an ICE officer fatally shooting Renee Good in Minneapolis — do not capture the moments leading up to what is recorded.
The officer who shot Good used his cellphone to record their interaction. CNN previously reported that some, but not all, ICE field offices are given body-worn cameras. Jonathan Ross, the officer who shot Good, testified during a separate case in December that immigration agents in the Minneapolis area “cannot wear them.”
When asked by CNN’s Pamela Brown about ICE officers using cameras, McLaughlin said they are “of course” allowed to wear them.
Asked whether all ICE officers will have body cameras, McLaughlin responded: “We are working on that with the One Big Beautiful Bill, actually.” The law signed by Trump last July gave DHS an unprecedented surge in funding to hire and equip more immigration officers.
Trump says he may be "forced to act" in Minnesota if protests continue
President Donald Trump forewarned leaders in Minnesota that he may intervene if protests continue amid immigration enforcement activities.
“In Minnesota, the Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists are, in many cases, highly paid professionals,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
“The Governor and Mayor don’t know what to do, they have totally lost control, and our currently being rendered, USELESS!” he went on. “If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY!”
Trump stopped short of saying he would use the Insurrection Act to send the military into Minnesota. A day earlier, he said he would use the law if needed to “quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”
Trump suggests Kevin Hassett may not be Fed chair after all
President Donald Trump suggested he wants to keep National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett in his current role rather than nominating him to become Federal Reserve chair.
Hassett, a conservative economist who has advised Republicans throughout his career, has long been seen as the front-runner in Trump’s deliberations for Fed chair, praised for his ability to articulate the president’s sweeping policies.
More context: In an interview with Fox Business earlier today, Hassett weighed in on the Justice Department’s investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell over testimony he gave last year on the central bank’s $2.5 billion renovation to its Washington, DC, headquarters — the same interview Trump said he watched.
“We at the White House, we respect the independence of the Fed. … (US Attorney) Jeanine Pirro said that she was asking questions all the way back a few months ago, and so they felt the necessity of doing it this way. I find that regrettable,” Hassett said.
“Jay’s a good man, I expect that there’s nothing to see here — that the cost overruns are related to things like asbestos, as he says — but I sure wish they had been more transparent,” he added.
It’s unclear whether Hassett was referring to the federal probe itself as “regrettable,” or how the Fed handled the Justice Department’s questions about the renovation.
Last month, Trump hinted he may nominate Hassett to be Fed chair.
Trump considering new tariffs on countries that oppose his annexation plans for Greenland
President Donald Trump said Friday he is considering applying new tariffs on countries that opposite his ambition of annexing Greenland.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” Trump said during an event focused on health care at the White House.
The president made the remark as he recounted using tariffs to force other nations to cooperate on a plan to lower drug prices in the United States.
Trump’s push to control Greenland has prompted outrage among European nations, who fear the move could rupture longstanding transatlantic ties. Some have begun sending troops to the semiautonomous Arctic island that’s currently a territory of Denmark.
Representatives from Greenland and Denmark visited the White House this week for inconclusive meetings about Trump’s plans.
Here's the latest on the Minneapolis protests as Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act
Tensions flared in Minneapolis again last night in the wake of a second shooting by a federal immigration officer in just one week, as President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act that would allow the deployment of US troops to Minnesota.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Clashes continue: Federal officers deployed tear gas and percussion grenades to disperse a group of protesters at the Whipple Federal Building late Thursday. Earlier, loudspeakers warned demonstrators against blocking the building’s driveway, as some in the group kicked and threw items at exiting vehicles. Some protesters were taken into custody, US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino told Fox News. CNN reached out to DHS for details.
- Insurrection Act: Trump raised the prospect of invoking the centuries-old law, which would allow the deployment of US troops to Minnesota. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it is a “tool at the president’s disposal” and Trump’s warning “spoke very loud and clear to Democrats across this country.” The president previously threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to anti-ICE protests in Portland last fall, and in 2020, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed.
- Legal battle: Teresa Nelson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, called Trump’s Insurrection Act threats “unnecessary, dangerous and wrong.” The organization also filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government Thursday, claiming immigration agents violated US citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights.
- Lawmakers hold “field hearing”: At 10 a.m. ET today, Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal, of Washington, and Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, are hosting what they call a “field hearing” in St. Paul, Minnesota, titled “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Deadly Assault on Minnesota.” The lawmakers are expected to hold a press conference after the event.
Continue reading here.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers are heading to Copenhagen amid Trump's Greenland push
US Sen. Chris Coons is set to lead a delegation to Copenhagen today “to highlight more than 200 years of friendship between the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark,” according to a statement from the Delaware lawmaker’s office.
“The trip will highlight bipartisan support for our allies in the Kingdom of Denmark and discuss how to deepen this partnership in line with our shared principles of sovereignty and self-determination, and in the face of growing challenges around the world, especially bolstering Arctic security and promoting stronger trade relations between the two countries,” the statement read.
Sens. Thom Tillis and Jeanne Shaheen as well as Reps. Sarah McBride, Gregory Meeks, Madeleine Dean and Sara Jacobs are expected to be among the delegation held in Copenhagen today and tomorrow.
They are scheduled to meet with “Danish and Greenlandic government and business leaders,” Coons’ office said.
The delegation comes as President Donald Trump has made clear his desire for the US to take over the arctic territory. The push has been criticized by lawmakers across the aisle, and 75% of Americans say they oppose the idea, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
CIA director traveled to Venezuela to meet the country's interim president
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas yesterday, according to a US official.
The meeting was meant to build trust, according to the official, and reflects Ratcliffe wanting the CIA to be less risk averse.
The meeting comes as President Donald Trump has asserted control over Venezuela, particularly its oil production, saying the US will effectively “run” the country following its capture of Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
Trump has shown support for Rodríguez, a longtime regime insider, over opposition leader María Corina Machado, who met with the president yesterday.
The White House says acquiring Greenland remains a national security priority. Here’s where things stand
Troop activity in Greenland, with several European NATO countries deploying small numbers of military personnel there this week, has no bearing on President Donald Trump’s push to acquire the Danish territory, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters yesterday.
“I don’t think troops in Europe impact the president’s decision making process, nor does it impact his goal of the acquisition of Greenland at all,” Leavitt said, underscoring the president’s position.
The comments come following Wednesday’s meeting between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Leavitt described that meeting as “productive.”
The two delegations “agreed to really establish a working group of individuals who will continue to have technical talks on the acquisition of Greenland,” Leavitt said, adding that the talks would occur “every two to three weeks.”
The White House also made clear that the president views acquiring Greenland as a priority for national security.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan delegation of US Senators, including Senators Chris Coons, Thom Tillis, Jeanne Shaheen and Dick Durbin, is expected to meet with Danish and Greenlandic government and business leaders in Copenhagen today. The group will hold a joint press conference around 9 a.m. ET.
Venezuela's Machado gave Trump her Nobel prize
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado told reporters yesterday, that she had “presented” US President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal as a gift during an “extraordinary” meeting at the White House.
Trump has long coveted the prize, but the committee that awards it has been clear that it cannot be shared or transferred. “A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot,” it said in a post on X. The medal is currently in the president’s possession, and a White House official said Trump is keeping the medal.
After her meeting with Trump, Machado told US lawmakers that the meeting with the president was “historic, not only for the future of Venezuela, but for the future of freedom in the world.”
However, Trump has previously indicated he does not think Machado has enough respect within Venezuela to govern – and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that he had not changed his view.
A new CNN Poll finds 75% of Americans oppose US efforts to take control of Greenland
Three-quarters of Americans say they oppose the United States attempting to take control of Greenland, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, indicating that President Donald Trump’s push to expand America’s territory faces stiff headwinds with the public.
The survey finds just 25% of Americans favor the US attempting to take control of the Danish territory. Even the president’s partisans are about evenly divided, with 50% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents saying they support it and 50% opposed. Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are deeply against the move, with 94% opposed overall, including 80% who say they strongly oppose it. About 8 in 10 independents who don’t lean toward either party are also opposed.
Trump said Wednesday on his social media website Truth Social that “anything less” than US control of Greenland is “unacceptable.” The message came ahead of a meeting at the White House between Danish officials, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that appeared to do little to bring the two sides any closer to an agreement.
Read more about the latest CNN polling on the Trump administration.
