Officials from Greenland and Denmark met in Washington on Wednesday with top White House officials as President Donald Trump moved to ratchet up the pressure by suggesting that NATO should help the United States acquire the world’s largest island and saying anything less than it being under American control is unacceptable.
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are participating in the talks with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke
Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt to discuss Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
A few hours before the talks could begin, Trump reiterated on his social media site that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would — “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
In response, Greenland’s representatives to the U.S. and Canada posted on social media, “Why don’t you ask us?” and noted the low percentage of island residents who favor becoming part of the U.S.
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The Maine Republican is one of five GOP senators whom Trump is trying to pressure to change their vote Wednesday on a war powers resolution that would require congressional approval before any further attacks on Venezuela.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who voted to advance the legislation last week, has indicated he may vote to dismiss the measure. Meanwhile, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have both indicated they are also sticking to their votes in favor.
That likely leaves Sen. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, with the crucial vote. He has repeatedly declined to discuss his position, saying he was “giving it some thought.”
Voto Latino leaders announced their full support for the three articles of impeachment introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly to remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“The impeachment articles brought forward by Representative Kelly today have been a long time coming,” Voto Latino leaders said in a statement. “Since taking office Secretary Kristi Noem has operated without restraint or accountability. Secretary Kristi Noem has used her cabinet position to benefit herself at the expense of the American people — regardless of immigration status.”
Along with their support, Voto Latino leaders are launching a digital campaign in Republican led districts, aimed at pressuring members of Congress to support the impeachment efforts. The digital campaign urges constituents in the districts to contact their representative and demand support for the impeachment efforts.
About 9 in 10 registered voters oppose the U.S. trying to take Greenland by military force, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, while only 9% are in favor.
Buying Greenland is still not broadly popular, but voters are more divided about an acquisition involving money. Just over half, 55%, of voters oppose the U.S. trying to buy Greenland, while 37% are in favor.
Republican voters, in particular, are much keener on the idea of an attempt to buy Greenland, rather than a military invasion. About two-thirds of Republican voters oppose trying to take Greenland by military force.
On the other hand, a similar percentage of Republican voters support an attempt to buy Greenland.
Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois says she has introduced three articles of impeachment to remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem from office and that she has support from almost 70 Democrats so far.
A growing number of Democrats are calling for Noem’s impeachment in the wake of the killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, though the effort stands little chance in a Republican-controlled House and Senate.
Kelly said in a press conference Wednesday announcing her resolution that “real people are being hurt and killed” from ICE enforcement actions. She was joined by 10 other Democrats at the event who voiced frustration and anger with the Trump administration’s deportation efforts – many focused on their districts.
“If we do nothing, nothing will happen,” Kelly said.
It’s unclear when Kelly may seek to force a vote on her resolution.
Rep. Angie Craig, who represents a swing district in Minnesota, said ICE actions “have crossed a line.”
“Minnesotans, we want safe and secure borders. We want violent criminals to not be in our country. But this is not what we signed up for.”
The State Department will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.
The State Department said Wednesday that it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become “public charges” in the U.S. The suspension will begin Jan. 21 and will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant, or temporary tourist or business visas.
“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” the department said in a statement. “Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”
The statement did not identify which countries would be affected by the pause, but the administration has already severely restricted immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing for citizens of dozens of countries, many of them in Africa.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said in a post on the social platform X that the ceasefire deal was entering a phase focused on demilitarizing Gaza, establishing a technocratic government and reconstruction.
Witkoff did not offer any details Wednesday about the new transitional Palestinian administration that would govern Gaza.
The White House did not immediately offer any details, either. Witkoff said that the U.S. expects Hamas to immediately return the final deceased hostage as part of its obligations under the deal.
Denmark’s Rasmussen and Greenland’s Motzfeldt were spotted exiting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building about an hour after the talks started.
The two foreign ministers are scheduled to head to Capitol Hill later in the day for talks on Capitol Hill.
While Trump says he will take action on Greenland whether its people “like it or not,” his new handpicked U.S. special envoy is setting off on his own approach.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who was appointed as U.S. special envoy to Greenland in December, has not visited the Arctic island but plans to attend a dogsled race there in March. He has suggested Greenlanders would feel right at home in Louisiana, saying he heard they like to hunt, fish and “have a good time.”
Landry has brought his thick Cajun accent and reputation for confrontational politics to the effort to acquire the world’s largest island, elevating his national profile on a mission that has showcased his ties to the president and rattled partners in the military alliance.
“Russia does not harbor aggressive plans toward its Arctic neighbors, does not threaten them with military action, and does not seek to seize their territory,” Russia’s ambassador to Copenhagen, Vladimir Barbin, told TV2, according to a statement published on social media by the Russian Embassy in Denmark.
“To successfully develop its Arctic potential, Russia is interested in stability and good relations between the states in the Arctic region,” he said.“Disputes and disagreements between Arctic states should be resolved in accordance with international law and through negotiations. Escalation in the Arctic must be avoided. It is necessary to restore broad international cooperation in the Arctic, which is capable of ensuring security more reliably and at lower cost than the unchecked drive by NATO countries to militarize the region.”
Denmark’s Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland’s Vivian Motzfeldt are now at the White House campus for their high-stakes meeting with Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ahead of their arrival, the office of Greenland Representation to the U.S. and Canada pushed back against Trump’s continued insistence that the Arctic territory become part of the United States.
“Why don’t you ask us, kalaallit?” the office said in a social media post, referring to the island’s indigenous Inuit people. The office noted that polling showed a vast majority of Kalaallit and Greenlanders oppose joining the United States.
Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota is venting some of his frustration in a Senate floor speech, sharply criticizing a war powers resolution vote that would require Trump to get congressional approval before carrying out further attacks on Venezuela.
The president has been hurling insults at five Senate Republicans who voted to advance the measure last week, and Republican Senate leaders were looking for ways to defuse the conflict, including possibly challenging whether the war powers resolution should be prioritized under chamber rules.
“We have no troops on the ground in Venezuela. We’re not currently conducting military operations there,” Thune said. “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.”
Republican leaders could move to dismiss the measure under the argument that it is irrelevant to the current situation, but that procedure would still receive a vote.
The Trump administration is easing the review process to allow U.S. chip company Nvidia to sell advanced chips such as H200 and its equivalents to China. The move is a reversal from the Biden administration’s policy to restrict China’s access to advanced chips when the two countries are locked in a tech rivalry.
A rule by the Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce this week says it would no longer presume denial on exports of H200 chips to China but conduct a case-by-case review on criteria such as whether the needs of U.S. users have been sufficiently met and if security concerns are addressed. The change has raised concerns among U.S. lawmakers, who are worried it could boost China’s computing powers, which are crucial in developing artificial intelligence capabilities.
It’s unclear if China would allow the imports of H200 chips, as it pursues self-sufficiency in high technology.
The Democratic former secretary of state did not show up for a scheduled deposition by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday morning despite threats from Republicans to hold her and former President Bill Clinton in contempt of Congress.
The Clintons released a letter this week to Rep. James Comer, the committee chairman, explaining that they see the attempt to force their testimonies in the committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein as “legally invalid” and biased against them. Bill Clinton also did not show up for a scheduled deposition on Tuesday morning.
Comer is planning to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings against the Clintons next week.
The clash showed how House Republicans are using the powers of the oversight panel to focus on high-profile Democrats who are associated with Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in 2019.
Dozens of people holding Greenlandic flags have gathered to protest against U.S. militant rhetoric as Danish and Greenlandic officials are preparing to meet their counterparts in Washington.
The FBI searched journalist Hannah Natanson’s devices and seized a phone and a Garmin watch at her Virginia home, the Post said. Natanson covers the Trump administration’s transformation of the federal government and recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources, leading a colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”
While classified documents investigations aren’t unusual, the search of a reporter’s home marks an escalation in the government’s efforts to crack down on leaks.
An affidavit says the search was related to an investigation into a system administrator in Maryland who authorities allege took home classified reports, the newspaper reported. The system administrator, Aurelio Perez-Lugones, was charged earlier this month with unlawful retention of national defense information, according to court papers.
Perez-Lugones, who held a top secret security clearance, is accused of printing classified and sensitive reports at work. In a search of his Maryland home and car this month, authorities found documents marked “SECRET,” including one in a lunchbox, according to court papers.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he expects Trump to try to interfere with the midterm elections, and he says raids by immigration agents in major cities are creating a sense of chaos that voters will reject in November.
The comments were part of a wide-ranging, 20-minute Associated Press telephone interview with the New York Democrat, who argued former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola’s entry into the Senate race gives his party a path to the majority.
Schumer said that economic concerns have begun to cement in the minds of voters and that Democrats have plans to build their campaign around the costs, chaos and corruption they attribute to the Trump administration.
The White House has called such Democratic statements “fearmongering” to score political points.
▶ Read more from AP’s interview with Schumer
Senate Democratic leaders believe they have a path to winning the majority in November, though it’s one with very little wiggle room.
The party got a new burst of confidence when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced Monday she’ll run for the Senate in Alaska. Her bid gives Democrats a critical fourth candidate with statewide recognition in states where Republican senators are seeking reelection this year. Nationally, Democrats must net four seats to edge Republicans out of the majority.
That possibility looked all but impossible at the start of last year. And while the outlook has somewhat improved as 2026 begins, Democrats still almost certainly must sweep those four seats.
First, they must settle some contentious primaries, the mark of a party still struggling with its way forward after Republicans took full control of Washington in 2024. Importantly, they must also beat back challenges to incumbents in some of the most competitive states on the map.
▶ Read more about what Democrats are facing
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin has been notified that the Trump administration is investigating her after she organized and appeared in a video with other Democrats urging military service members to resist “illegal orders.”
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, first disclosed to The New York Times that prosecutors were investigating her. A person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak about it publicly confirmed the matter to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Slotkin, who organized the 90-second video and first posted it on her X account in November, learned this month of the inquiry from the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the Justice Department’s chief prosecutor in the nation’s capital. Pirro’s office did not immediately respond Wednesday to messages seeking comment.
▶ Read more about the inquiry
The Washington Post says FBI agents have searched a reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of sharing government secrets.
The Post says journalist Hannah Natanson had her phone and a Garmin watch seized by agents at her Virginia home.
An FBI affidavit says the search was related to an investigation into a system administrator in Maryland who, authorities allege, took classified reports home.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment. Justice Department officials haven’t responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Natanson covers the Trump administration’s transformation of the federal government and recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources, leading a colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House, calling it a national security priority while repeating false claims about the strategic Arctic island.
In recent comments, he has floated using military force as an option to take control of Greenland. He has said that if the U.S. does not acquire the island, which is a self-governing territory of NATO ally Denmark, then it will fall into Chinese or Russian hands.
▶ Take a closer look at the facts
China’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs.
China’s exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, as Chinese automakers and other manufacturers expanded into markets across the globe. Imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion. The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.
In December, China’s exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9% year-on-year increase. Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November’s 1.9%.
▶ Read more about how economists expect exports to impact China’s economy
Although he doesn’t always follow through, Trump seems intent on doubling and tripling down whenever possible.
“Right now I’m feeling pretty good,” Trump said Tuesday in Detroit. His speech was ostensibly arranged to refocus attention on the economy, which the president claimed is surging despite lingering concerns about higher prices.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he’s only doing what voters elected him to do, and his allies in Washington remain overwhelmingly united behind him.
Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels predicted that voters will reward the party this year.
“Voters elected President Trump to put American lives first — and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” she said. “President Trump is making our country safer, and the American people will remember it in November.”
It’s only two weeks into the new year, and Trump has already claimed control of Venezuela, escalated threats to seize Greenland and flooded American streets with masked immigration agents. That’s not even counting an unprecedented criminal investigation at the Federal Reserve, a cornerstone of the national economy that Trump wants to bend to his will.
Even for a president who thrives on chaos, Trump is generating a stunning level of turmoil as voters prepare to deliver their verdict on his leadership in midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
Each decision carries tremendous risks, from the possibility of an overseas quagmire to undermining the country’s financial system, but Trump has barreled forward with a ferocity rattling even some of his Republican allies.
“The presidency has gone rogue,” said historian Joanne B. Freeman, a Yale University professor.
▶ Read more about the turmoil Trump is creating ahead of this year’s votes
Nearly half of Americans — 45% — want the U.S. to take a “less active” role in solving the world’s problems, the new AP-NORC poll found.
About one-third say its current role is “about right,” and only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they want the country to be more involved globally.
Democrats and independents are driving the desire for the U.S. to take a “less active” role. At least half of them now want the U.S. to do less, a sharp shift from a few months ago.
Republicans, meanwhile, have grown more likely to indicate that Trump’s level of involvement is right. About 6 in 10 Republicans — 64% — say the country’s current role in world affairs is “about right,” which is up slightly from 55% from September.
About half of Americans believe the U.S. intervening in Venezuela will be “mostly a good thing” for halting the flow of illegal drugs into the country, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
And 44% believe the U.S. actions will do more to benefit than harm the Venezuelan people. But U.S. adults are divided on whether intervention will be good or bad for U.S. economic and national security interests, or if it simply won’t have an impact.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to see benefits to the U.S. action, particularly its effects on drug trafficking. About 8 in 10 Republicans say America’s intervention will be “mostly a good thing” for stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the country.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
Most U.S. adults — 56% — say President Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll conducted from Jan. 8-11, after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture.
Democrats and independents are driving the belief that Trump has overstepped. About 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents say Trump has “gone too far” on military intervention, compared with about 2 in 10 Republicans.
The vast majority of Republicans — 71% — say Trump’s actions have been “about right,” and only about 1 in 10 want to see him go further.
▶ Read more about the poll’s findings
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington, as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Trump said in a social media post on Monday that he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. The sanctions could hurt the Islamic Republic by reducing its access to foreign goods and driving up prices, which would likely inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.
But the tariffs could create blowback for the United States, too, potentially raising the prices Americans pay for imports from Iranian trade partners such as Turkish textiles and Indian gemstones and threatening an uneasy trade truce Trump reached last year with China.
The Trump administration has offered scant details since announcing the new tariffs targeting Iran. It’s also unclear what legal authority the president is relying on to impose the import taxes. He invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify his most sweeping tariffs last year. But businesses and several states have gone to court arguing that Trump overstepped his authority in doing so.
▶ Read more about Trump’s threat of new tariffs
The Smithsonian Institution gave the White House new documents on its planned exhibits Tuesday in response to a demand to share precise details of what its museums and other programs are doing for America’s 250th birthday.
For months, Trump has been pressing the Smithsonian to back off “divisive narratives” and tell an upbeat story on the country’s history and culture, with the threat of holding back federal money if it doesn’t.
By Tuesday, the Smithsonian was supposed to provide lists of all displays, objects, wall text and other material dedicated to this year’s anniversary and other purposes. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III told staff, in an email obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post, that “we transmitted more information in response to that request.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment, leaving it unclear whether it was satisfied with the material it received.
▶ Read more about the Smithsonian
Trump said Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.
In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would.
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Greenland is at the center of a geopolitical storm as Trump is insisting he wants to own the island, and the residents of its capital, Nuuk, say it is not for sale. The White House has not ruled out taking the Arctic island by force.
▶ Read more about Trump’s comments
