Golf legend Greg Norman praises Trump for US action in Venezuela: ‘I applaud it’
Legendary pro golfer Greg Norman on Wednesday praised President Donald Trump for the U.S. action in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Norman, the two-time British Open champion and former LIV Golf CEO, spoke to “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy in Florida and had glowing remarks about how the U.S. handled the situation in the South American country.
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“He’s true to his word,” Norman said. “And I said this during his first term, I’ve known quite a few presidents but he’s the first president I’ve spent time with that has true stars and stripes flowing through his blood.
“So, what he did in Venezuela, I applaud it. That timing, the execution of it just showed the pure strength and the might and the will of the United States to protect their hemisphere and they should protect their backyard.”
PRO GOLFER JHONATTAN VEGAS WEIGHS IN AFTER TRUMP ORDERS ‘LARGE SCALE STRIKE’ IN VENEZUELA
Trump announced on Jan. 3 that U.S. special forces conducted a “large-scale strike” against Caracas, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges, where they each pleaded not guilty.
The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela and more than two dozen strikes in Latin American waters against alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.
The Trump administration routinely stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and said he was the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, Trump said in December 2025 he believed it would be “smart” for Maduro to step down.
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The Trump administration has justified seizing Maduro as a “law enforcement” operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an “invasion.”
What the alleged ‘sonic weapon’ used in Venezuela may actually have been
Claims that a mysterious “sonic weapon” was used in Venezuela have fueled speculation about exotic U.S. military technology and its potential effects on the human body.
One eyewitness account from a Venezuelan guard, shared on social media by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, claimed the weapon brought Venezuelan and Cuban security forces to their knees, “bleeding through their nose” and vomiting blood.
While the Trump administration has not confirmed what weapon, if any, may have been used, defense experts point to a well-known acoustic device that has been in use for years.
US USED SONIC WEAPON ON VENEZUELAN TROOPS, REPORT SHARED BY LEAVITT CLAIMS
Known as a long-range acoustic device (LRAD), it’s been described as the “voice of God,” according to Mark Cancian, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The device deploys a directed, short-range “cone of sound.”
“It’s not like a microphone, you know, where everybody’s neighborhood, it’s only within this cone,” said Cancian.
U.S. operators may have deployed it as they were landing on the ground in Caracas, Venezuela, as a way to disorient security forces and warn them to drop their weapons.
LRADs can project spoken commands at intense volumes or emit a loud, piercing tone designed to get attention and deter movement. At close range, the sound can be painful and disorienting, and in extreme cases can damage hearing or rupture eardrums, but the devices are not designed to cause lasting physical harm.
It can cause pain and temporary disorientation, and can cause ruptured eardrums, but is not designed to inflict long-term damage.
U.S. forces used them for crowd control in Iraq when Iraqis got too close to U.S. military installments, according to Cancian.
The devices can reach up to 140 decibels of sound. The intensity drops quickly with distance and angle. This is why operators can stand nearby but outside the beam.
US MILITARY DETAILS TIMELINE OF OPERATION TO CAPTURE MADURO, REVEALING MORE THAN 150 AIRCRAFT INVOLVED
Other defense analysts say the account raises questions that go beyond conventional acoustic devices.
For decades, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has studied nonlethal technologies intended to temporarily incapacitate adversaries without causing permanent injury. Publicly available research has explored acoustic and electromagnetic effects designed to overwhelm the senses, disrupt balance or motor control, and render targets briefly unable to fight or maneuver.
Can Kasapoglu, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, said such research has fueled speculation about more advanced incapacitation systems, but stressed there is no public evidence any experimental DARPA technology was used in Venezuela.
“There are some non-lethal technologies that DARPA has been working on, including acoustic weapon systems, sound waves, and also some neurological weapon systems that do not kill, but cause an unbearable sensation that you feel that you simply become inoperable in the battlefield,” he said.
While the symptoms described in the post shared by Leavitt are unverified, “they align closely with examples of DARPA research.”
The White House and Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the reported sound offense, the U.S. launched a cyberattack that knocked out communications systems as operators were landing in Caracas, Venezuela.
“It was dark, the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have, it was dark, and it was deadly,” Trump previously said.
“We were on guard, but suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation,” the local guard said in the account shared by Leavitt. “The next thing we saw were drones, a lot of drones, flying over our positions. We didn’t know how to react.”
SEVEN US SERVICE MEMBERS INJURED IN VENEZUELA RAID TO CAPTURE MADURO, OFFICIAL SAYS
Once operators were on the ground, “At one point, they launched something; I don’t know how to describe it,” he said. “It was like a very intense sound wave. Suddenly I felt like my head was exploding from the inside.”
The effects were extreme, according to the guard.
“We all started bleeding from the nose,” he said. “Some were vomiting blood. We fell to the ground, unable to move. We couldn’t even stand up after that sonic weapon — or whatever it was.”
The physical effects described by the guard go well beyond what experts say LRADs are known to cause.
Vomiting blood, in particular, is not a typical reaction to acoustic exposure, raising questions about whether the account exaggerates the effects, misattributes their cause, or reflects a different factor entirely.
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Experts caution that while directional acoustic devices are real and widely used, there is no publicly known “sonic weapon” capable of producing the extreme injuries described — and no official confirmation that any such system was used in Venezuela.
Venezuela’s interior minister Diosdado Cabello said 100 people were killed in the Maduro operation. Cuba has said 32 members of its security forces, which were guarding Maduro, were killed in the operation.
Seven U.S. service members were injured in the operation, but none were killed.
Dem senators ripped for reversing Venezuela stance after Trump captured Maduro: ‘Politics at its worst’
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has been criticized over her shifting stance on Venezuela and its fallen president Nicolás Maduro after she supported military action to take out Maduro and “delegitimizing” the Venezuelan government in 2019, but condemned the Trump administration for trying “to ‘run’ another country.”
In 2019, when running for president, Klobuchar advocated for using the military to remove Maduro and help establish a democracy in Venezuela, saying, “I’m also glad that we’re trying to push Maduro out. But the answer here is to make sure that we are working with our allies, pushing for democracy and some kind of a negotiated agreement. Military should always be on the table.”
Meanwhile, on another occasion in 2019, Klobuchar again endorsed American involvement in bringing democracy to Venezuela, saying she, “of course supported bringing in the new president and delegitimizing the Maduro government,” and “You always leave things on the table,” when asked about U.S. intervention.
LOOMING WAR POWERS SENATE VOTE RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON HAWLEY AFTER MAGA BACKLASH
“Democrats like Klobuchar and Schumer spent years demanding the removal of dictator Nicolás Maduro. Now that President Trump has actually done it, they suddenly oppose the outcome. The Democratic Party has entered the terminal phase of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.
“Washington politics at its worst, says one thing to her pals in the media but turns her back on our brave military after they put their lives on the line,” added “Ruthless” podcast host John Ashbrook.
“It’s sad but not surprising that a committed ideologue like Amy Klobuchar is unable to give credit where credit is due for President Trump’s removal of Nicolás Maduro. The socialist regime of Venezuela drove one of the most energy-rich countries in the world into ruin, his citizens into poverty and served as a Western Hemisphere stalking horse for China, Iran, Russia and others who wish us harm,” said longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed. “Not only do Venezuelans have a renewed sense of hope, but America is stronger on the world stage. Global politics used to stop at the water’s edge, but for Amy Klobuchar, partisan politics is priority one.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID
The White House has called out a lengthy list of other high-profile Senate Democrats besides Klobuchar for allegedly once demanding Maduro’s capture but now “mourn[ing] his capture.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was among those slammed by the White House for going from blasting Trump for failing to dislodge a “more powerful” and “more entrenched” Maduro to calling Trump’s Maduro arrest “reckless” and stoking fear about consequences.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., according to Trump, went from pledging sustained support to help Venezuelans rebuild what has been lost under Maduro to criticizing Trump’s unilateral use of military force and warning about intervention.
Chris Van Hollen is described by the White House as moving from urging the U.S. to “ratchet up the pressure” for a negotiated transition to labeling any move to replace Maduro an “illegal act of war.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Klobuchar for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Trump signals long road ahead in Venezuela in his boldest interventionist move yet
President Donald Trump is setting the stage for the U.S. to be involved in overseeing Venezuela for a significant period of time, after conducting strikes and capturing dictator Nicolás Maduro and labeling himself “acting” president of Venezuela.
The move marks his boldest interventionist move yet — a foreign policy approach by which one country intervenes in another state’s affairs — and follows other major military operations from the Trump administration, including strikes in Syria in December 2025 against Islamic State operatives after an ambush against U.S. troops there, and strikes in June 2025 against the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Trump told The New York Times in an interview that was published Wednesday that “only time will tell” how long the U.S. will be running Venezuela, but said it would be “much longer” than a year.
Additionally, Trump announced recently that Venezuela’s interim government would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. and that the oil would be sold “immediately.”
TRUMP DISCUSSES EXPANSION OF DRUG CARTEL CRACKDOWN, ISSUES GRIM WARNING TO IRAN
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump told the Times. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
Likewise, Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as “Acting President of Venezuela” since January 2026.
Previous interventionist actions the U.S. has taken include launching an invasion of Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks Afghanistan-based al Qaeda conducted against the U.S., and an invasion of Iraq in 2003 that led to the toppling of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime. In both cases, the U.S. remained in prolonged occupations there.
The language the Trump administration is using now focusing on illegal migration is different than what was used during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, which focused on democracy-building and promoting freedom, Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital.
US RAID IN VENEZUELA SIGNALS DETERRENCE TO ADVERSARIES ON THREE FRONTS, EXPERTS SAY
“But the pathway to achieve those things, I don’t see, like, a broad differentiation from the things that we did before,” Thompson told Fox News Digital.
Thompson said that she doesn’t see how the Trump administration’s goals could be completed without small rotational deployments from U.S. forces to provide security, particularly in the event that the U.S. reopens its Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.
“I don’t see how we’re going to have a team there without at least some small deployment of rotational forces to achieve security of our own personnel,” Thompson said.
So far, no U.S. troops are on the ground in Venezuela, and the Senate advanced a War Powers resolution Thursday that, if passed, would bar using U.S. forces within or against Venezuela without Congress’ approval.
TRUMP ADMIN SAYS MADURO CAPTURE REINFORCES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT REMOVALS
When asked by Fox News Digital about whether Trump’s “Acting President of Venezuela” post was shared jokingly and what it indicates about how long the U.S. will be involved in running Venezuela, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital: “President Trump will be the greatest President for the American and Venezuelan people in history. Congratulations, world!”
Although Trump has blasted previous administrations for actions in the Middle East and vowed he would bring an end to “endless wars” while ushering in an “America First” agenda prioritizing U.S. interests, Democrats warned that the U.S. may be involving itself in another complicated conflict.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed that the U.S. is on the path to another “endless war.”
“The very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over and over again was no more endless wars,” Schumer said in an interview with ABC News Jan. 4. “And, right now, we’re headed right into one with no barriers, with no discussion.”
SEN JEAN SHAHEEN: MADURO IS GONE, BUT THE SAME POWER STRUCTURES REMAIN IN VENEZUELA
Trump announced on Jan. 3 that U.S. special forces conducted a “large-scale strike” against Caracas, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges, where they each pleaded not guilty.
The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela and more than two dozen strikes in Latin American waters against alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.
The Trump administration routinely stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and said he was the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, Trump said in December 2025 he believed it would be “smart” for Maduro to step down.
The Trump administration has justified seizing Maduro as a “law enforcement” operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an “invasion.”
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However, lawmakers primarily on the left have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval.
“This has been a profound constitutional failure,” the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Jan. 3. “Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power.”
Venezuela releases multiple American citizens from prison following military operation
The interim government in Venezuela has released at least four U.S. citizens who were imprisoned under President Nicolás Maduro‘s regime, Fox News confirmed.
The release marks the first known release of Americans in the South American country since the U.S. military completed an operation to capture Maduro, who is now facing federal drug trafficking charges in New York.
“We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela,” a State Department official said Tuesday. “This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
The release of American citizens was first reported by Bloomberg.
TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO PROTECT VENEZUELA OIL REVENUE HELD IN US ACCOUNTS
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuela had begun releasing political prisoners.
“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”
Venezuela’s interim government has reported that 116 prisoners have been released, although only about 70 have been verified by the non-governmental organization Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón, according to Bloomberg.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said prisoner releases would continue, according to the outlet.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FILES SEIZURE WARRANTS TARGETING SHIPS TIED TO VENEZUELAN OIL TRADE: REPORT
The U.S. government issued a new security alert Saturday urging Americans in Venezuela to leave the country immediately, citing security concerns and limited ability to provide emergency assistance, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas said.
“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should leave the country immediately,” the embassy said in the alert.
The warning pointed to reports of armed groups operating on Venezuelan roads.
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Following the military operation, Trump suggested that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an extended period.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he said.
Rand Paul says GOP colleagues ‘don’t give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats’: They ‘say they’re pro-life’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., accused his “pro-life” Republican colleagues of not caring about the people killed in boat strikes near Venezuela who the Trump administration, without providing evidence, claims were trafficking fentanyl.
During an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” released on Tuesday, Paul said GOP lawmakers “don’t give a s‑‑-” about the people who died on the vessels, blasting his colleagues for not granting the presumption of innocence.
“I look at my colleagues who say they’re pro-life, and they value God’s inspiration in life, but they don’t give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats,” Paul said. “Are they terrible people in the boats? I don’t know. They’re probably poor people in Venezuela and Colombia.”
“I guess what I don’t feel connected to my Republican colleagues is that those lives don’t matter at all, and we just blow them up. And against all justice, and against all laws of war, all laws of just war, we have never blown up people who were shipwrecked,” he added, referring to the administration’s reported targeting and killing of survivors of initial strikes who were clinging to wreckage.
RAND PAUL SAYS TRUMP’S THREAT TO BOMB IRAN ‘IS NOT THE ANSWER’: NOT THE ‘JOB OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT’
The liberty-minded Republican said it is “against the military code of justice to do that.”
“We’re doing it and everybody just says, ‘Oh, well, they’re drug dealers,'” he said.
Paul criticized his fellow GOP lawmakers who have repeated the administration’s claims about the boats carrying fentanyl. He also took issue with colleagues who hold the position of, “Well, we’re at war with them. They’re committing war by bringing drugs into America.”
“They’re not even coming here,” Paul explained. “They’re going to these islands in the south part of the Caribbean. The cocaine — and it’s not fentanyl at all — the cocaine’s going to Europe.”
He emphasized that “those little boats can’t get here.”
“No one’s even asked this common question: Those boats have these four engines on them. They’re outboard boats. You can probably go about 100 miles before you have to refuel. Two thousand miles from us, they’d have to refuel 20 times to get here,” Paul said.
The senator accused the administration of conducting the boat strikes to create “a pretense and a false argument” ahead of the operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro.
“It’s all been a pretense for arresting Maduro,” he said. “So, we have to set up the predicate. We got to show you we care about drugs.”
Paul helped the Senate advance a resolution last week that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican said amounts to war. The Upper Chamber could pass the measure later this week, although it faces an uphill battle in the House despite some support from Republicans.
“I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war,” Paul told reporters before the procedural vote last week. “Does this mean we have carte blanche that the president can make the decision any time, anywhere, to invade a foreign country and remove people that we’ve accused of a crime?”
SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK SCHIFF EFFORT TO FORCE RELEASE OF CARIBBEAN STRIKE FOOTAGE
The lawmaker has repeatedly criticized the administration’s boat strikes on alleged narco-terrorists in recent months, often raising concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people. The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
Paul said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” that he believes the administration might attack Mexico next, which Trump has signaled could be a future target.
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“They want to do that next. They want to bomb Mexico,” Paul said.
Trump has said cartels are “running Mexico” and that “something’s going to have to be done” because Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is “very frightened” of the cartels.
Looming war powers Senate vote ramps up pressure on Hawley after MAGA backlash
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is facing backlash from the MAGA base after voting with Democrats and a small group of Republican senators to advance a war powers resolution related to Venezuela — marking a break with President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to hold a full vote on the resolution that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct future military operations against Venezuela without Congressional approval, teeing up a test for Hawley with MAGA and its base.
The vote comes after Trump announced Jan. 3 that the U.S. military carried out a successful operation in Venezuela, capturing dictatorial president Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The couple is now being held in a New York City jail on sweeping narco-terrorism conspiracy and drug trafficking charges.
The operation set off condemnation among Democrats who took issue with Trump ordering the mission and strike on Venezuela without prior congressional approval.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID
Days later, on Jan. 8, the Senate advanced a bipartisan war powers resolution by a 52–47 vote that would require the president to seek congressional authorization before engaging U.S. armed forces in “hostilities within or against Venezuela.” The procedural vote set up a full Senate vote slated for Wednesday.
Hawley joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Todd Young, R-Ind., in voting with Democrats to require Trump obtain congressional approval prior to military action in Venezuela, sparking condemnation and surprise from the MAGA base on social media earlier in January.
“The Republicans who sided with Democrats today on the War Powers resolution are STUPID & WEAK,” former campaign aide Alex Bruesewitz posted to X following the procedural vote. “It came as no surprise to see Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, or Todd Young vote against President Trump, they’ve all shown clear signs of Trump Derangement Syndrome in the past.”
Bruesewitz added that he was “surprised and disappointed” by Hawley for aligning “himself with the anti-Trump faction and Democrats, particularly since he represents Missouri, one of the most staunchly pro-Trump states in the nation.”
“Shameful,” he added.
Hawley previously defended his procedural vote by framing it as a constitutional issue rather than a rebuke of the administration.
“My read of the Constitution is that if the President feels the need to put boots on the ground there in the future, Congress would need to vote on it,” Hawley posted to X explaining the vote.
Fox News Digital spoke to a longtime Republican campaign operative working on midterm races, who said Hawley has broken with the administration over a handful of issues, and compared him to former Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who frequently take shots at the president and his policies and draw media attention.
DEMOCRATS’ OWN WORDS BACK UP TRUMP ACTION IN VENEZUELA, TOP INTEL LAWMAKER SAYS
“It seems like every other month he does something that’s opposed to the president and the party more broadly,” the source said.
Trump needs two of the five Republicans to switch their positions ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The president put the five senators on notice following the procedural vote, warning on social media that they “should never be elected to office again.”
“This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief,” he wrote earlier in January. “In any event, and despite their ‘stupidity,’ the War Powers Act is Unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me.”
MAGA allies echoed Trump’s Truth Social message in their own posts, describing Hawley as a “RINO” whose political career is allegedly teetering over the vote.
“President Trump ERUPTS on the Republican senators who just voted to approve the War Powers resolution that would rein in his Venezuela operations, says NEVER ELECT THEM AGAIN,” Eric Daughtery posted to X Jan. 8.
“Remember this in November. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again! We are sick of compromised GOP dirtbags going against our President,” another MAGA-aligned social media account, Farm Girl Carrie, posted.
Hawley told Fox News Tuesday, when asked how he plans to vote, that he’s spoken with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and DOJ officials about his top concern of having American troops on the ground.
He said they “assured me there are no ground troops in Venezuela” and that there “are not going to be ground troops in Venezuela.”
“My big concern has been ground troops in Venezuela and, making sure that if there’s going to be ground troops in Venezuela, (which) I would hope we would not do, that Congress authorizes that. But I will tell you, I’ve talked to the president. I talked to the secretary of state. I talked to the Department of Justice here in the last few days and have had tremendous conversations in the Secretary of State, who I just talked to recently, assured me there are no ground troops in Venezuela. There are not going to be ground troops in Venezuela,” he said. “The administration will notify Congress, will seek congressional approval where necessary.”
Hawley has drawn Trump’s ire before, including during a fight over Hawley’s stock-trading ban proposal in July. Trump, who previously said he liked the idea “conceptually,” accused Hawley of siding with Democrats to block a GOP-backed effort tied to reviewing Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading.
“Why would one ‘Republican,’ Senator Josh Hawley from the Great State of Missouri, join with all of the Democrats to block a Review, sponsored by Senator Rick Scott, and with the support of almost all other Republicans, of Nancy Pelosi’s Stock Trading over the last 25 years. The information was inappropriately released just minutes before the Vote — Very much like SABOTAGE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Hawley has also broken with the administration on domestic policy, repeatedly criticizing Medicaid reforms included in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” back in 2025, even as he ultimately voted in favor of the sweeping package when it came to the Senate floor.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP REBELS DEFY TRUMP AS CONGRESSIONAL GRIP CONTINUES TO WEAKEN ACROSS MULTIPLE VOTES
The Republican campaign operative said it is unclear why Hawley has broken with the administration on certain policies, speculating he might have 2028 aspirations.
“The polling I’ve seen shows that Republicans are in favor of the president’s actions in Venezuela,” the sourced added. “He would be out of step with our voters. I don’t think it’d bode well for him. I think this was one of the most unifying moments on the right, when the president successfully arrested Maduro and took him out the country. Him siding with the Democrats is bizarre.”
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“How has that worked out for Rand Paul or Massie,” the operative said, referring to Kentucky lawmakers’ ongoing policy spats with the president and administration.
Mamdani, President Trump have been texting at least twice a week — as unlikely bromance blossoms: sources
Hey, you up?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Trump have been exchanging “friendly” missives at least twice a week — as the unlikely bromance between the socialist and conservative commander-in-chief continues to blossom, The Post has learned.
‘JUST SAY YES’: TRUMP CUTS IN AS NYC MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI DODGES ON CALLING HIM A ‘FASCIST’ AT OVAL OFFICE
The former Astoria lawmaker and the Queens native have semi-regularly been chatting via text since their chummy White House meeting in November, discussing a wide range of topics, from the toppling of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and zoning red tape in Big Apple real estate, according to sources.
Insiders with knowledge of the conversation described the tone of the texts as “friendly.”
MAMDANI CALLS ICE DETENTION OF NYC EMPLOYEE ‘ASSAULT ON OUR DEMOCRACY’
“It wouldn’t make practical, political sense for them to scream at each other — in public or private,” one politico said, while also noting, “Of course, they can’t appear too cozy.”
The source added: “Mamdani would be smart to kiss Trump’s ass … Especially when the federal government can withhold billions from the city.”
The budding relationship and the regularity with which the two chat personally are a marked departure from previous interactions between presidents and New York City mayors in recent history.
MAMDANI STRONGLY CONDEMNS TRUMP’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELAN LEADER MADURO AS ‘ACT OF WAR’
Even Mamdani’s predecessor Mayor Eric Adams, who cozied up to Trump and rushed down to DC in the middle of the night to attend his inauguration last year, had to connect with the president through intermediaries.
Andrew Kirtzman, CEO of the strategic communications firm KSX, said it was “remarkable that Trump feels so comfortable with [Mamdani].”
“He hated (Bill) de Blasio, the last left-wing mayor, and probably felt estranged from the city because of it,” he said. “He seems to feel an emotional connection with Mamdani. The mayor must be totally amazed by what’s happening.”
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Asked how this might play with Mamdani’s base of Democratic Socialists of America members who despise the Republican White House, Kirtzman said he believed they’d likely give the lefty mayor a pass.
“I think the left understands this is purely transactional from Mamdani’s perspective,” he said.
Trump administration files seizure warrants targeting ships tied to Venezuelan oil trade: report
The Trump administration has filed court warrants in an effort to seize more ships linked to Venezuela’s oil trade, according to media reports.
So far, five vessels have been seized by the U.S. military and Coast Guard in recent weeks in international waters.
The seizures were part of the administration’s pressure campaign to force former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, which happened Jan. 3, when he was arrested by U.S. forces.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON’T BE A ‘SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS’ AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR ‘COOPERATION’
After Maduro’s capture, President Donald Trump said the United States would control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Justice Department.
Through federal courts, the U.S. government has filed multiple civil forfeiture actions to force the seizure and confiscation of oil cargo and ships that have been involved in the trade, the sources told Reuters.
It was not clear how many seizure warrants the U.S. is seeking.
US FORCES ATTEMPTING TO BOARD SANCTIONED RUSSIAN-FLAGGED OIL TANKER IN NORTH ATLANTIC, SOURCES SAY
On Friday, the War Department said it “will hunt down and interdict ALL dark fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil at the time and place of our choosing.”
“The Department of War blockade in the Caribbean Sea remains in full effect — and very effective,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X. “In the past 24 hours alone, at least seven “dark fleet” oil vessels have turned around to avoid interdiction — because they know we mean business. The days of letting criminal activity run rampant in our hemisphere are OVER.”
A day earlier, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department was monitoring several other vessels amid news of the U.S. seizure of the Bella-1 tanker, a Russian-flagged oil vessel allegedly responsible for transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
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Russia, like Venezuela, relies on the shadow fleet to carry oil that is under sanctions.