President Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan speaks with “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil about the Minneapolis ICE shooting, the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations and more.
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On Wednesday, a confrontation between ICE agents and an aggressive anti-ICE protester in Minneapolis resulted in the ICE officer defending himself while a vehicle was weaponized against him. The female driver named Renee Nicole Macklin Good (37) was shot and killed.
Antifa aligned activists have been chasing and trying to disrupt immigration enforcement operations throughout the Minneapolis area. Leftist Mayor Frey and Minnesota Governor Walz are using the ICE shooting to stir up anxiety and take attention away from the rampant fraud recently outlined in the state.
DHS secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference to address the shooting.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth deliver remarks to the media following a briefing of Senators on the ongoing Venezuela operations.
As noted by Secretary Rubio, the U.S. is now in control of all Venezuela oil production and distribution. WATCH:
Further to Rubio’s remarks: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the United States will sell Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” after completing sales of the crude currently accumulating in storage there.
Wright said the proceeds from those sales would be “deposited into accounts controlled by the U.S. government” and then “flow back into Venezuela to benefit the Venezuelan people.”
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Director Dr. Mehmet Oz, posted a video to his X account outlining the updated status of CMS investigations into Medicaid and Medicare fraud in Minnesota.
🚨Minnesota Medicaid Fraud Update: pic.twitter.com/Dk0W07P1U8
— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) January 7, 2026
These statements follow HHS freezing childcare and family services grants in five states [SEE HERE]. DHS Kirsti Noem has also pushed 2,000 investigative units into Minnesota.
Today at 11:00am ET, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will hold a press briefing on current events. Livestream Links Below:
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Last Friday Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) began surging roughly 2,000 federal agents and officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation branch and Homeland Security Investigations, the agency’s investigative arm tasked with fighting transnational crimes into Minnesota.
The investigative objective appears to be utilizing the massive and systemic fraud throughout Minnesota as an entry gate to expand the investigation into other states. The key takeaway is that Minnesota simply reflects the tip of the iceberg and multiple Democrat run states likely have the same or worse fraud ongoing.
The Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) now follow up on the DHS surge with an announcement that $10 billion in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) payments are being halted as the investigations expand. Four additional states are being reviewed: California, Colorado, Illinois and New York, join Minnesota in seeing their federal funds stopped pending review and audit.
This is a smart approach because releasing the funds will be contingent upon the states accepting the audits. We all know that genuine audits of those state records will likely reveal massive fraud within the subsidy system that has been abused by Democrats. Minnesota has provided the entry point for a much larger corruption and fraud review.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is cutting off more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding meant for a handful of Democrat-led states over concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens, officials told The Post Monday.
The Department of Health and Human Services will freeze taxpayer funding from the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and the Social Services Block Grant program.
President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have noted that following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the remaining government is being pressured to realign their positions and accept a change in direction. It is always tenuous when the leader of a hostile foreign government is removed.
The current approach by the Trump administration is to permit former Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to continue operating the mechanisms within the country to retain near-term stability. The CIA assessed Delcy Rodriquez was the interim ruler who could keep order.
Prior to the removal of Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, was asked by the Trump administration to provide a detailed summary of how she could form a functioning government, should she be assisted to power.
Machado’s response did not provide confidence that her strategy was comprehensive enough. Therefore, the Trump administration assessed the best interim approach would be to continue working with the remaining Maduro government officials, led by Delcy Rodriquez, while pressuring them to follow the instructions of the United States.
Various geopolitical powers, including many that attend Mar-a-Lago functions, want Maria Corina Machado installed quickly. President Trump and Secretary Rubio are being more measured in their approach. The powers that want Machado installed are now working on a media strategy. Sean Hannity is enlisted for the assist.
The issue is one of competency and chaos. President Trump and Secretary Rubio do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past (Bush/Powell, Iraq or Obama/Clinton, Libya). The Venezuela issue is entirely different from the Middle East, but the same type of chaos can reemerge if the transition from authoritarianism to representative democracy is not well managed.
The Sea Island attendees support a quick Machado installation. Trump/Rubio prefer to proceed with more caution, especially because someone is going to be on the hook for financial support to Venezuela, because the domestic rewards from any expanded oil revenue are at least 5 to 10 years away.
Changing the regime in Venezuela may break China’s ‘belt and road’ grip, but China’s money is going to need to be replaced with independent domestic economic wealth for the Venezuelan people. That process takes time.
Maria Corina Machado is supported by all the same networks who support Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Despite the twinkles in the eyes of senators within the Foreign Relations Committee, we don’t want Venezuela to become North America’s largest Somali daycare operation.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller appears on CNN to respond to Jake Tapper’s concerns about America being successful in the operation to capture Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Tapper’s furrowed brow deepens with each of Miller’s statements which outline the current status. Mr. Miller explains how the acting Venezuelan government has acquiesced to the demands of President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Tapper has difficulty accepting that a new strategic and targeted approach by the Trump administration could have such success. WATCH:
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As both federal and state fraud investigations expand, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announces he will not seek reelection in 2026.
The announcement was made in a four-page post on X. Methinks the governor doth protest too much.
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Once again giving context to the immediate reaction from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum following the operation to exfiltrate Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, during the return flight to Washington DC President Trump spoke about how President Sheinbaum is “a little afraid” of the cartels in Mexico.
When asked about his previous offer to have the U.S. military intervene in the drug and human trafficking operations within Mexico, President Trump said, “I would say every single time I’ve talked to her I’ve offered to send troops.” Following up with, “she’s concerned, she’s a little afraid, the cartels are running Mexico. Whether you like it or not, the cartels are running Mexico.” WATCH:
This is not just an ordinary off-the-cuff statement when you consider the ramifications. There is no closer geographic nation to the mainland United States other than Mexico, and President Trump is being brutally honest in his statement that Mexican President Sheinbaum is afraid of the cartels. The cartels run the Mexican government.
Mexican residents living in the United States and sending money back to Mexico are a major economic driver of Mexico’s GDP. Currently the best estimate of GDP is that personal remittances make up around 4% of their domestic economy. The United States sent $62.5 billion dollars in remittances to Mexico in 2024, 96.6% of the total received by the country. 47% of remittances from the United States to Mexico are sent from California and Texas [source].
The remittances essentially subsidize the average Mexican family, while the illegal cartel income is estimated around $12 billion annually [source]. The total Mexican GDP is around $1.7 trillion [source], Canada is roughly $2.4 trillion, the United States is around $30 trillion.