She really doesn’t have much choice.  President Trump has shown the Venezuelan government how the U.S. can put a complete stranglehold on the South American country if they do not adhere to the transition plans of Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the enforcer.

Following the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s new government under Delcy Rodríguez has begun releasing political prisoners in a bid to foster unity and peace. The change in Venezuelan politics comes directly as the result of President Trump using the military to block oil shipments, the major source of revenue for the nation.

The move seems to indicate a potential shift in Venezuela’s political landscape, though compliance with the Trump administration is likely happening through gritted teeth.

[SOURCE]

MIAMI – The interim government of Venezuela is releasing of “an important group” of Venezuelan and foreign political prisoners to guarantee unity and peace, according to Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the parliament and brother of the new president in charge of the South American country.

Rodríguez, who also represented now-deposed Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro for years in political negotiations with the opposition and the United States, indicated Thursday that the government of his sister, Delcy Rodríguez, was working together with the rest of the state institutions to carry out what he defined as “a unilateral gesture” of the executive branch.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading the charge to focus on Minneapolis, Minnesota Somali fraud rings for targeted regional actions.  The IRS Criminal Investigations division has been dispatched to focus on the Minneapolis region to identify fraudulent use of public assistance services, combined with the abuse of federal taxpayer funds.

In a remarkable approach, Secretary Bessent announced during a Fox News interview that a regional targeting effort is now underway that will block anyone who receives public assistance from sending money overseas (remittances to foreign countries).  This is not a fee or tax on the remittance, or financial transaction; this is a complete block of their ability to send money overseas.  Anyone receiving public assistance will not be able to send money to foreign lands.

Yes, it seems like this is initially going to be subject to the honest admission of the money sender. However, with the IRS reviewing each transfer and cross referencing to public assistance records anyone who attempts to work around this regulation will be subject to federal laws on financial fraud, wire service fraud and potentially money laundering.  WATCH:

The interagency focus will eventually go nationwide, as with the new USAO position that focuses on public assistance fraud; but for now, that focused effort will target Minnesota.   Minneapolis will be the beta test for a national rollout.

All of the money service businesses in the region will now be reviewed and all financial transactions of $3,000 will be required to have an accompanying Suspicious Activity Report (SAR).  With DHS, FBI and now IRS investigators focused exclusively on the two counties involved in the Somali fraud rings, the fraudsters will be identified and prosecuted.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright gives an outline of energy production in three-minutes.  I especially liked this part: “Germany invested half a trillion (in renewables) and now produce 20% less electricity at 3x the price,” Wright noted.

$10 trillion has been invested/deposited within the Climate Change Bureau of Imaginary Problems; Secretary Wright discusses the outcome. Now, I know it is easy for us to laugh and enjoy this type of fact-based mic drop, however, as we watch this short video think seriously about the position of Canada as it relates to what Wright is mentioning.

Yes, the examples of the United Kingdom and Germany are excellent in their representative value to drive home the point; however, ¹Canada is more predestined toward failure in their energy policy than Germany.  WATCH:

The U.S. Energy Secretary just obliterated Net Zero ideology in 60 seconds.

Oil, gas, and coal power EVERYTHING including green energy.

This is what adults sound like.

Liberals are not ready for this conversation.pic.twitter.com/c6J4x7k7Nk

— Marc Nixon (@MarcNixon24) January 7, 2026

¹Canada’s climate change energy policy is orders of magnitude worse than the EU.  Canadian carbon trade platforms and the government’s insufferable economic stupidity is a major part of the reason why the USMCA must be dissolved.  The North American continent cannot have comingled economic dependency where Mexico and the USA are expanding through low-cost energy outputs, while Canada generates high-cost energy outputs.

In the long term, the slowly unfolding Canadian economic collapse will be devastating.  Big Panda has previously prepositioned their interests and is awaiting final purchase of the Snow Mexicans for pennies on the dollar.

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was accurate in his outline to president-elect Trump that began the point of the USA just taking ownership of Canada (2024).  If something similarly radical doesn’t happen soon, a Chinese protectorate will be our northern neighbor.

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Prior to the discovery of rampant fraud in Minnesota, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was already scheduled to deliver remarks to the Economic Club of Minnesota. Treasury Secretary Bessent is also the Acting IRS Commissioner, which gives him a very unique position from which to review and discuss the explosive issues of fraud within the state.

This is a MUST WATCH video in totality to understand exactly what Secretary Bessent is focused on.

Secretary Bessent begins visit by delivering prepared remarks to the audience outlining the success in President Trump’s economic policy approach, giving specific examples of granular policy accomplishments and what they mean to the average American. Secretary Bessent then sits down for a question-and-answer session where he drills into the issue of the fraud within the Minneapolis, Minnesota region.

Regarding the Somali fraud issue, Bessent notes the IRS Criminal Investigations department are leading the charge to identify the specific individuals and larger network groups within the region who will be held to account.  In the bigger picture roughly 10% of all government spending has been identified by the General Accounting Office as fraud.  This is a really good overall review of the current approach being taken by the Trump administration. WATCH:

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President Trump sat down with Sean Hannity to communicate with the segment of the MAGA support base who still watches Fox News.

Within the interview President Trump discusses the operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and the ongoing policy objectives for the region.

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Giddy up.  Yesterday, President Trump and Marco Rubio announced the U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). {GO DEEP} Today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent makes the official notification to the UN.

The notification is important because the 1992 UNFCCC was ratified by the U.S. Senate 34 years ago, making it one of the first UniParty climate change pacts supported by the ¹DC business model.

According to the terms of the treaty, withdrawal from the UNFCCC requires an official notification to the United Nations, and the dissolution takes effect one year later.

TREASURY PRESS RELEASE – WASHINGTON – In alignment with the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the U.S. Department of the Treasury has notified the Green Climate Fund (GCF) that the United States is withdrawing from the Fund and stepping down from its seat on the GCF Board, effective immediately.

“Our nation will no longer fund radical organizations like the GCF whose goals run contrary to the fact that affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to economic growth and poverty reduction,” said U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

The Trump Administration is committed to advancing all affordable and reliable sources of energy, which are fundamental to economic growth and poverty reduction. The GCF was established to supplement the objectives of the UNFCCC, and continued participation in the GCF has been determined to no longer be consistent with the Trump Administration’s priorities and goals. (SOURCE)

For those who have a tough time accepting wins, no, the next President cannot just rejoin the agreement; nor can the Senate block Trump’s withdrawal from it.  The entire process would have to be restarted, and it’s a heavy lift to sell the American public on paying higher prices just to make pontificating global elites feel better about themselves.

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As you review this latest data on trade, remember any drop in trade deficits has two big picture functions:

First, lower trade deficits generally mean the accompanying GDP release will be stronger than anticipated because imported products are a deduction from the valuation of all goods and services created in the U.S. economy.  Lower imports mean less is deducted.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, a drop in the trade deficit created by diminished imports means more wealth remains inside the USA.

We are not spending, sending money overseas, to import foreign goods at the same rate, and that money stays inside the U.S. economy. More wealth inside the U.S. provides the fuel for expanded domestic growth, more investment gains in USA manufacturing and USA industry and the ability to pay higher USA wages.

The Commerce Department is reporting today that the U.S. trade deficit for October 2025 dropped to the smallest amount in 16-years.  A significant amount of the deficit drop was because a high value of physical precious metals (gold/silver) was exported, simultaneous with big offshore pharmaceutical companies dropping the prices of imported products (policy and tariff pressure).

WSJ – The U.S. trade deficit shrank dramatically in October to its lowest level since 2009, the Commerce Department said Thursday, an unexpected twist in a year of volatile trade flows that have been buffeted by the Trump administration’s steep tariffs.

American imports fell to $331.4 billion in October, while exports increased to $302 billion. That yielded an October deficit of $29.4 billion, an imbalance nearly 40% smaller than September’s. (more)

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This is a good move.  Given that Democrats and professional leftists are trying to create a national anti-Trump narrative based on the Minneapolis, Minnesota, ICE shooting incident, Vice-President JD Vance will be supporting White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at the podium today.  The anticipated press briefing is at 1:00pm ET.

Minnesota officials and activists are changing the headline topic from rampant fraud and criminal theft centered in the ethnic Somalia enclaves of the Minneapolis community, to the issue of federal law enforcement shooting an anti-ICE activist.  The scale of the Democrat reaction is in direct proportion to the scale of the Democrat fraud they are distracting from.

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