| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco and Eli Okun | Presented by United for Cures | Good Saturday afternoon. This is Ali Bianco and Eli Okun. Three days into 2026, we’re already waking up to world-altering news in the hemisphere. Drop us a line at abianco@politico.com and eokun@politico.com.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | | 
President Donald Trump said the U.S. would "run" Venezuela for the time being. | Alex Brandon/AP | DEVELOPING: After a stunning overnight operation in Venezuela, where U.S. armed forces captured the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. will take charge of Venezuela in the interim. “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said in a news conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort. “We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.” He added that the U.S. would run Venezuela “with a group” and would be “designating various people” in charge — pointing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine behind him. The announcement is a massive escalation of U.S. intervention after questions have swirled for months about whether the U.S. would actually formally enter the country — and what the Trump administration’s plans would be for the transition. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” Trump said today. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” Trump said. “And we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack, if we need to do so.” Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado issued a statement this morning saying that Maduro is facing justice and the U.S. has made good on its promise. But she also called for a recognition of opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez as the country’s president, and for the U.S. to “validate our mandate and take power.” “We are staying vigilant, active and organized until the democratic transition is concrete. A transition that will require ALL of us,” she wrote. With the U.S. taking up the task of running Venezuela’s transition, the role of the opposition from here on out remains unclear. Trump said he hasn’t been in contact with Machado, telling reporters at Mar-a-Lago that it would be “very tough” for her to be the leader. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.” The details: After the U.S. carried out large-scale strikes inside Venezuela before dawn this morning and captured Maduro and Flores, federal prosecutors have slapped them with drug-trafficking conspiracy and weapons charges in the Southern District of New York, POLITICO’s Erica Orden reports. “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” AG Pam Bondi announced. Trump said Maduro and Flores were on board the USS Iwo Jima, a Navy warship, en route to New York. They’re expected to be flown to NYC from Guantánamo Bay, per ABC’s Katherine Faulders and colleagues. Read the indictment On Truth Social, Trump shared a photo that he said depicted Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima wearing what appeared to be a Nike sweatsuit. He also posted a video of the strikes that had been overlaid with audio from “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the anti-war anthem from the Vietnam War era. How it happened: The operation, dubbed “Absolute Resolve,” was carried out by the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, after they identified Maduro’s location, CBS’ Jennifer Jacobs scooped. Maduro and Flores were “dragged from their bedroom” during the raid that resulted in their capture, and were taken in the middle of the night while they were sleeping, CNN’s Kevin Liptak reports. Members of the FBI’s hostage rescue team were embedded with U.S. military forces during the operation, per MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian. And the information that finalized the operation and Maduro’s location came from a CIA source inside the Venezuelan government and involved “months of meticulous planning,” NYT’s Julian Barnes reports. What Trump is saying: “I said, ‘You have to give up,’” Trump said in an interview on “Fox & Friends” recalling a recent conversation he had with Maduro. “We had to do something that was really much more surgical, much more powerful. I actually spoke to him myself. But I said, ‘You have to give up, you have to surrender.’” Trump indicated that he had spoken with Maduro as recently as last week. “I was able to watch it in real time. I watched every aspect of it,” Trump said of the operation, taking a victory lap. “We had a fighter jet for every possible situation. And really they just broke in and they broke into places that were not really able to be broken into, you know? Steel doors that were put there for just this reason, and they got taken out in a matter of seconds. I’ve never seen anything like it actually.” More from POLITICO’s Ben Johansen For Trump, this is shaping up to be viewed as a rousing success among his hawkish allies. He confirmed CBS’ reporting that the strike was ready to go four days ago, but bad weather shifted the plans. While Trump said no U.S. forces were killed in the operation, he noted on Fox that “a couple of guys were hit,” without offering more details. “One of them was hit pretty hard, a helicopter, but we got it back.” Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodríguez said some Venezuelan civilians and military members were killed, though she did not provide exact details or figures, per the AP.
| | | | A message from United for Cures: The United States leads the world in lifesaving medical research, and Americans benefit from its advances daily. Diagnoses that were once death sentences are now treatable and even curable. And more progress comes every year. We can't lose our leadership now. Millions still need cures — which means they still need federally-funded medical research that leads to more treatments, more cures, and more lives saved. Support Cures. Increase federal funding for lifesaving medical research in FY26. | | | | THE BIG PICTURE: The long-term view of the success of this operation will ultimately depend on what happens to Venezuela. Rodríguez is being sworn in as president, Trump told reporters. “[Rubio] is working on that directly. He just had a conversation with her, and she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again, very simple,” Trump said. But Trump also issued a stark warning: “All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them if they aren’t just fair even to their people,” he said. This comes after months of the Trump administration engaging in high-level brinksmanship against Venezuela — starting with the strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean, the seizure and pursuit of oil tankers linked to the country amid an oil blockade and most recently a land strike on the Venezuelan coast. Trump — along with Rubio, long a Venezuela hardliner — has warned that Maduro’s days in power were numbered. Trump also said at the news conference that the embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in effect. The timeline overnight: Multiple explosions were reported throughout Caracas starting around 2 a.m., coming from the city’s major military bases. The FAA banned commercial flights from operating over Venezuelan airspace, citing “ongoing military activity,” per CBS. The Maduro government swiftly began denouncing the explosions as an “imperialist attack” and calling on Venezuelans to take to the streets in protest, per the AP. By 4:30 a.m., Trump had confirmed the operation.
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U.S. strikes in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro were carried out in part by the U.S. Army’s Delta Force. | Matias Delacroix/AP | THE REACTIONS: “This is just a new day for this hemisphere,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a big supporter of Trump’s campaign against Venezuela, told Playbook early this morning. “This should be no surprise for a lot of people … and I could not be more proud of the president, his administration and the United States Armed Forces.” Florida Republicans writ large were thrilled, POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy reports, and even Democrats offered measured praise. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) called Maduro’s ouster “welcome news” and said her “hope is it offers a passage to true democracy and liberation,” while expressing concern about Trump not getting congressional authorization. “I think if anybody thinks that those folks can continue business as usual, those days are over,” Diaz-Balart told Playbook. “I think this is historic.” “The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States,” VP JD Vance said on X. “Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says.” Domestic fallout: A round of calls from Rubio today seemed to win over some GOP senators who were skeptical of the administration’s authority to use military force without Congress. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said it was likely constitutionally justified to protect Americans executing the arrest warrant for Maduro — and said Rubio “anticipates no further action in Venezuela.” (Trump went on to contradict this thoroughly and directly.) The criticism: Though few Americans are sympathetic to Maduro, many Democrats slammed Trump’s actions as illegal. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) castigated Rubio and Hegseth for having “blatantly lied to Congress” about not seeking regime change in Venezuela. House Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said in a statement that “Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, but I have seen no evidence that his presidency poses a threat that would justify military action without Congressional authorization.” More from our POLITICO colleagues And that skepticism is likely to escalate as Congress settles back into session next week. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a statement that he will bring his war powers resolution against action in Venezuela up for a vote once Congress is back. GOP leaders of both chambers shared statements on scheduling briefings for lawmakers on the operation next week. Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) excoriated Trump for “hypocrisy” in having recently pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, a convicted drug trafficker, and said the U.S. crossing this line could set a precedent for Russia in Ukraine or China in Taiwan as “the rules that restrain global chaos begin to collapse.” Rubio at the news conference said it was “not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on. It was a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met.” Trump also noted that Congress “has a tendency to leak. This would not be good if they leaked.” Vance, in an attempt to preempt the criticisms, said in a post on X: “PSA for everyone saying this was ‘illegal’: Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism. You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas.” Hegseth, speaking after Trump at the news conference, mounted a defense of Trump’s interventionism: “He f’d around and he found out,” Hegseth said of Maduro. “This is America First.” N.B.: White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair’s Chris Whipple: “If he were to authorize some activity on land, then it’s war, then [we’d need] Congress.” The takes: The WaPo editorial board trumpeted, “Justice in Venezuela.” But the NYT editorial board called the action “illegal and unwise,” warning that Trump is “pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons.” History repeating: It’s worth noting that the strike that killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, one of Trump’s major escalations against Iran in his first term, was on Jan. 3, 2020. And during the U.S.’ last major intervention in Latin America, when U.S. officials moved to oust Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, he surrendered on Jan. 3, 1990. BEYOND THE U.S.: World leaders largely reacted with shock and calls for respect for international law, Ali and Eric Bazail-Eimil report. Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Chile expressed concern. U.S. allies outside the region reacted cautiously. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X that the bloc views Maduro as “an illegitimate leader,” while calling for “restraint” and affirmed the need to respect international law. Spain’s left-wing PM, Pedro Sánchez, echoed that call. “The muted response from many leaders outside of the hemisphere reflects the unilateral nature of the administration’s Venezuela policy, which had seen the U.S. rapidly ramp up economic and political pressure in the hope of forcing Maduro to cede power.” The U.N. said it was “deeply alarmed” by the U.S. operation. “These developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, said in a statement, per the AP.
| | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. SCARY STUFF: “Charlotte-area teen charged with planning ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack,” by the Charlotte Observer’s Joe Marusak: “An 18-year-old from Mint Hill planned to use knives and hammers to kill people in a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in an ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said Friday. FBI agents foiled Christian Sturdivant’s plans and charged him with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.” 2. CASH DASH: MAGA Inc. finished out 2025 with a staggering total of $304.3 million in the bank, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott scooped. Its latest FEC filing shows that the Trump-aligned super PAC pulled in more than $102 million in the latter half of the year while spending very little, per POLITICO’s Aaron Pellish. Now it’s poised to unleash a gusher of spending to bolster Republicans in the midterms. As NYT’s Ken Vogel and Karen Yourish note, the donors include many people and businesses that have interests before the federal government, led by artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency titans. 3. MINNESOTA LATEST: Minnesota state officials said yesterday that they’re looking into several dozen child care centers in the wake of conservative accusations of fraud — but that many of the sites influencer Nick Shirley alleged were fraudulent did in fact have children present, The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Allison Kite reports. The Department of Children, Youth and Families said it was committed to rooting out fraud. It also told providers that it has to send information about the recipients of federal funding to the Trump administration by Friday or risk losing money, AP’s Charlotte Kramon reports. Political fallout: The state’s broader welfare fraud scandal could provide Republicans an opening as they seek to unseat Gov. Tim Walz in what would typically be an uphill battle, WSJ’s John McCormick reports from Minneapolis. Walz’s opponents hope voters will hold him accountable for having failed to stop fraud that happened on his watch; Walz, for his part, has pledged to fix the problems and accused Trump of using the scandal to slash funding for the state. Also from Minneapolis, WaPo’s Caroline O'Donovan and Hannah Knowles find growing Democratic concerns about Walz — as well as hopes that Republicans will overreach by focusing on bigotry against Somalis. 4. WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN: “President Trump orders divestment in $2.9 million chips deal to protect US security interests,” AP: “The [2024] deal involved aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp. selling its computer chips and wafer fabrication operations to HieFo for $2.92 million … But Trump is now demanding that HieFo divest that technology within 180 days, citing ‘credible evidence’ that the current owner is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China.” 5. IMMIGRATION FILES: Phoenix could be next in line — or coming soon — for an intensified ICE crackdown, The Bulwark’s Adrian Carrasquillo scooped. A potential major expansion of detention capacity in Arizona (including controversial soft-sided centers), fueled by greater federal spending, may pave the way for more arrests of unauthorized immigrants. 6. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Is another government shutdown in the offing at the end of January? Don’t count on it, POLITICO’s Cheyenne Haslett and colleagues report: Neither the White House nor Hill Dems want one, and both sides are taking de-escalatory steps even as a government-funding deadline looms. A shutdown certainly isn’t out of the question yet. But Democrats aren’t demanding health care legislation like they did last fall, and Republicans have projected a focus on consensus as they work to negotiate appropriations with Democrats. Some congressional Republicans are glad the White House is taking a hands-off approach there. 7. STICKING TO THEIR GUNS: “California ban on openly carrying guns is unconstitutional, court rules,” by Reuters’ Nate Raymond: “A panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided, opens new tab 2-1 with a gun owner in ruling that the state’s prohibition against open carry in counties with more than 200,000 people violated U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. … U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump, said the Democratic-led state’s law could not stand under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 landmark gun rights ruling.” 8. THE FUTURE IS NOW: The prospect of Social Security becoming insolvent has long hovered in the background of American politics as a problem for future leaders to deal with. But the latest projection pegs the date at 2032 — which means senators elected this fall may finally have to touch the third rail and deal with a potential crisis during their next term, WSJ’s Richard Rubin reports. Lawmakers will either have to find new revenue sources, implement new reductions or watch as automatic cuts go into place. 9. MUCK READ: “The Trump Administration Approved a Big Lithium Mine. A Top Official’s Husband Profited,” by NYT’s Lisa Friedman: “In 2018 Frank Falen sold water from a family ranch in northern Nevada to Lithium Nevada Corp., a subsidiary of Lithium Americas, for $3.5 million. … The mine needed a permit from the Interior Department, where Mr. Falen’s wife, Karen Budd-Falen, worked as the deputy solicitor responsible for wildlife from 2018 until 2021. She returned to the agency last year … [Falen] said his wife knew few details about the water contract and may not have known that the company was seeking approval from the Interior Department.” Interior rejected “any baseless accusation.” GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “He Was a Supreme Court Lawyer. Then His Double Life Caught Up With Him,” by Jeffrey Toobin in the NYT Magazine: “Thomas Goldstein was a superstar in the legal world. He was also a secret high-stakes gambler, whose wild 10-year run may now land him in prison.” — “Families, Neighbors Informed on Each Other in Assad’s Syria, With Deadly Consequences,” by WSJ’s Jared Malsin and colleagues: “Intelligence files found in Damascus prison complex reveal details of cases that led to brutal detentions; a wife records a husband.” — “The Cover-Up: Inside the Plot to Conceal Assad’s Crimes,” by NYT’s Christina Goldbaum and Saad Alnassife: “Thousands of documents and interviews with Assad-era officials reveal how the regime worked to conceal evidence of its atrocities during the Syrian civil war.” — “Anatomy of destruction,” by Reuters’ Olivia Le Poidevin and colleagues: “How Israel’s multi-ton truck bombs ripped through Gaza City.” — “For young transgender runner, racing wasn’t the hardest thing,” by WaPo’s Casey Parks in Spokane Valley, Washington: “Verónica García overcame poverty to become a high school track champion — twice. It made her famous for all the wrong reasons.” — “‘I Don’t Regret My Vote,’” by POLITICO Magazine’s Teresa Wiltz in Phoenix: “Trump’s first year was marked by racial controversies. These conservatives of color don’t care.” — “She Tried to Kill a President. He Loved Her Anyway,” by NYT’s Steven Kurutz: “A retired widower married Sara Jane Moore, who shot at President Ford in 1975. It tore his family apart.”
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | IN MEMORIAM — “Former N.J. congressman Dick Zimmer dies at 81,” by NJ Advance Media’s Brent Johnson: He was a “New Jersey Republican who served three terms in Congress and was twice his party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in a long and storied political career … A self-described ‘fiscal hawk’ and a sponsor of legislation that included Megan’s Law, the longtime Hunterdon County resident also spent a decade serving in the state Legislature.” PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — The National Park Service is finally sprucing up water features at Meridian Hill Park, Rawlins Park, Columbus Circle and more, WaPo’s Olivia George reports. The $54 million-plus projects will unfold in the coming months as President Donald Trump works to beautify parts of D.C. in conjunction with the country’s 250th anniversary. They’re also “a win for local officials who have long lamented the neglected public spaces but have been unable to fix them because they are owned and controlled by the federal government.” PLAYBOOK DESIGN SECTION — Trump’s White House ballroom efforts moved forward yesterday with the president personally examining marble and onyx options at an importer in South Florida, CNN’s Adam Cancryn reports. He planned to pay for the purchases himself. MEDIA MOVE — Sally Goldenberg is joining the NYT’s New York City Hall bureau. She previously has been senior politics editor at POLITICO. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) … former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) … Brad Parscale … NYT’s David Fahrenthold … Greta Thunberg … Verizon’s Chris DeBosier … Tim Rieser … National Education Association’s Conor Hurley … Igor Volsky … Marcie Ridgway Kinzel … KFF Health News’ Noam Levey … Jenna Golden … Sarah Lenti … McKinsey’s Jonathan Spaner … L.D. Platt … Zach Gates of House Financial Services … Carolyn Fiddler … James Hunter … POLITICO’s Matt Woelfel and Marc Heller … Al Cárdenas … former Treasury Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal (1-0-0) … Richard Ben-Veniste … Nolan Brown of Rep. Greg Landsman’s (D-Ohio) office … “Chef” Geoff Tracy … David Margolick THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): FOX “Fox News Sunday,” guest-anchored by Jillian Turner: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem … Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) … Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) … Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter. Panel: Michael Allen, Guy Benson, Francesca Chambers and Richard Fowler. NBC “Meet the Press”: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries … Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Panel: Amna Nawaz, Marc Short, Keir Simmons and Neera Tanden. ABC “This Week”: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer … Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) … San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. Panel: Donna Brazile, Chris Christie, Doug Heye and Julie Pace. CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) … Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) … CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz … Cardinal Robert McElroy. CNN “State of the Union”: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) … Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Panel: Reps. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Scott Jennings and Bakari Sellers. MS NOW “The Weekend”: Texas state Rep. James Talarico … Michael Fanone … Harry Dunn. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Garrett Ross.
| | | | A message from United for Cures: The United States leads the world in lifesaving medical research—and Americans benefit from its breakthroughs every day. Thanks to federal funding, several forms of cancer that were once death sentences are now survivable. A cure for diabetes is closer than ever. And in the fight against Alzheimer's, two FDA-approved treatments are already slowing disease progression in patients. But we can't afford to lose momentum. Millions of Americans are still waiting for answers—and they need federally funded research to keep cures coming. Sustained federal investment is essential to keeping America at the forefront of lifesaving medical innovation. Support Cures. Increase federal funding for lifesaving medical research in FY26. | | | | | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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